County Jobless Rate Declines Amid Signs of Economic Recovery

Ventura County’s unemployment rate dipped to 7.1% in February amid signs that the recession is easing, state officials said Monday.

The number of people out of work countywide fell to 26,100 during the month from 28,100, or 7.6%, in January. The agriculture sector accounted for 2,600 additional jobs over the two months.

Larry Kennedy, manager of the Simi Valley office of the California Employment Development Department, said the improvement reflects “fewer people coming in the front door” of the unemployment office. “Employers have slowed down on layoffs,” he said.

Although the recession is easing, Kennedy said, the employment picture did not improve more significantly because people already unemployed are still having trouble getting hired. “Everything’s still a little tentative.”

Douglas M. Peck Jr., an executive vice president of Ventura-based Bank of A. Levy, said the county’s economy appears to be emerging from the doldrums. “The signs suggest that we are coming out of this recession,” Peck said.

Ventura County’s unemployment rate was lower than the state’s, at 7.8%, and the nation’s, at 7.2%. But it was far higher than the 4.3% rate in February, 1990, when 10,300 fewer people were unemployed.

Although the agriculture sector expanded from 11,600 jobs in January to 14,200 jobs in February, the growth was due largely to hiring for the strawberry harvest, experts said. There were 1,500 fewer farm jobs than last February, which the experts attributed to the continuing effect of December’s crop freeze.

Avelina Villalobos, manager of the state’s North Oxnard employment office, said the recession in the county seems to be ebbing. “It has hit the stage where at least we’re holding steady,” she said.

Villalobos said she will survey employers this month to determine the extent of freeze-related job losses in packinghouses and the avocado, orange and lemon groves.