Jobless rate jumps again in July

A representative from People's Care talks with an attendee at the America's Job Center of California Hiring Fest on April 28, 2017.
Share on facebook
Share
Share on twitter
Tweet
Share on email
Email

Unemployment has increased to 4.8 percent in Santa Clarita, the second month in a row the rate has gone up, according to the Employment Development Department.

This comes after five months of decreases to Santa Clarita’s jobless rate. In June, the jobless rate was 4.1 percent, an increase from 3.7 percent in May.

“We historically see an increase in the unemployment rate during the summer months,” city Communications Manager Carrie Lujan said. “It’s a mixture of new job seekers in the community having just graduated and also teachers on summer recess.”

Of Santa Clarita’s 98,500-person workforce, 4,700 were without a job in July.

The jobless rate in Santa Clarita at this time last year was 5 percent.

“The Santa Clarita job market remains strong,” Lujan said. “New businesses are opening and hiring is ongoing.”

Lujan suggests Santa Clarita residents in search of a job utilize America’s Job Center of California and College of the Canyons. Also, she recommends scvinternships.com through the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation.

There are many contributing factors to unemployment, according to Mayor Cameron Smyth, who said Santa Clarita is still in a good place concerning employment.

“We will continue to look at the data and put it in perspective,” Smyth said.  “We’re doing better than most other cities in country.”

Unemployment in Los Angeles County was at 4.5 percent in July, up slightly from 4.4 percent in June. In July 2016, the jobless rate was 5.2 percent.

In California, the jobless rate was 4.8 percent in July, up from 4.7 percent in June but down from 5.4 percent in July 2016.

National jobless rates decreased slightly this month to 4.3 percent in July from 4.4 in June. Last July, 4.9 percent of Americans were jobless.

Los Angeles saw 5.5 percent of their workforce jobless last month. Long Beach, the county’s second largest city behind L.A., had a 5.7 percent jobless rate.

North of Santa Clarita, Palmdale had 7.0 percent joblessness and Lancaster had 5.9 percent.

Related To This Story

Latest NEWS