Fresno County Unemployment Rate Hits Historic Low of 5.3%

The California economy keeps humming along, and Valley communities are hopping aboard the jobs train.
Officials said Friday that California’s unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4% in September.
It also was a record-setting month for Fresno (5.3%), Kings (5.7%), Madera (5.0%) and Merced (5.5%) counties, according to the state Economic Development Department.
The records are based on job tracking numbers compiled by the state since 1990.

Previous Fresno County Low 5.9%

The previous low for Fresno County was September 2018 when the unemployment rate checked in at 5.9%.
Tulare County, however, had 7.6% unemployment in September — second-highest in the state behind agriculture-dependent Imperial County (20.7%).
As for the California county with the least unemployment, that was San Mateo at 1.7%.

California Job Expansion Now at 115 Months

The EDD ent said Friday that employers added 21,300 nonfarm payroll jobs. That extended California’s record job expansion to 115 months.
The unemployment rate in August was 4.1%, matching the previous record low first set in 2018.
California has gained 3,348,900 jobs since the expansion began in February 2010.

The National Picture

The national unemployment rate in September was 3.%%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Vermont had the lowest unemployment rate in September, 2.2%. The rates in Alabama (3.0%), Illinois (3.9%), New Jersey (3.1%), and South Carolina (2.9%)
set lows for record kept since 1976.
Alaska had the highest jobless rate (6.2%).

In this Sept. 17, 2019, photo job seekers line up to speak to recruiters during an Amazon job fair in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)