Number of Calif. counties with unemployment over 10% plunges, EDD says

Out of 58 counties in California, 13 had unemployment rates above 10% in May, down significantly from the 24 that exceeded the gauge the prior month, according to the state Employment Development Department.

Imperial County still leads the list with 21% of jobseekers out of work, but that is an improvement on the 21.6% rate in April. Colusa County in Northern California saw its unemployment rate drop to 15.6% from 19.8%.

On the flip side, the Bay Area county of Marin enjoyed a 3.8% jobless rate in May – the lowest in the state. San Mateo followed with a 4.1% rate while San Francisco boasted a 4.4% rate.

In Los Angeles County, the unemployment rate rose to 8% from 7.6% in April, when 377,800 job seekers out of a labor force of 4.95 million were looking for work. Last month, 396,100 people in the county were unemployed out of a pool of 4.96 million.

Elsewhere in Southern California, San Bernardino and Riverside counties also had an 8% jobless rate in May. Ventura County reported that 5.9% of its labor force was out of work; for Orange County, it was 4.9%.

The EDD said that 435,765 Californians received unemployment benefits last month, down 45,255 recipients from the prior month. The number of new claims also dropped last month to 53,388 from 62,715 in April.

Statewide, the unemployment rate dipped to 7.6% last month from 7.8%, compared with a national rate that remained unchanged at 6.3%. Employers boosted nonfarm payrolls by 18,300 jobs to 15,448,000 total.

The California economy has gained 1,327,000 jobs since the recovery began in February 2010.

Follow Tiffany Hsu on Twitter at @tiffhsulatimes