County job growth slows in August

Job growth slowed during August as the housing slump continued to drag on the Sonoma County economy, according to a report issued Friday.

The county's unemployment rate remained stable at 4.6 percent in August, unchanged from July. Hiring by employers was matched by an almost equal increase in the number of people looking for work, according to the state Employment Development Department.

"A lot of the major industries are basically staying stable or seeing some gains," said Tiffany Furrell, labor analyst for Sonoma County. But the county's jobless rate has been climbing over the last year. A year ago, unemployment stood at 4 percent.

Job growth, which peaked in January, has gradually been slowing. The housing downturn has contributed significantly to the slowdown with job losses in real estate, lending and construction cutting into employment gains in manufacturing and other sectors.

"Fall is typically a time when companies are ramping up and looking for people. It's certainly not up where it was a year ago," said Paige Wray, Sonoma County manager for Adecco Employment Services.

The county added 2,500 jobs in August, boosting employment to 198,100, a 1.3 percent increase over the last year. Still, that was the second lowest year-over-year increase in jobs this year.

What gains were made came in business and professional services, high-tech manufacturing, financial services and retail.

Business and professional services added 1,000 jobs over the past year in areas including lawyers, accounting, architects and engineering consulting.

Manufacturing added 600 jobs, including 200 in high-tech, which is a small yet encouraging number for a sector that had shed workers for several years.

The finance and insurance sector was up 300 jobs, and retail stores had 600 more workers compared with a year ago.

"There's some growth along with the challenges in the residential real estate sector," said Ben Stone, executive director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board.

Housing is mired in a two-year slump with sales and prices continuing to fall. As a result, real estate agents continue to hang up their licenses and mortgage companies have cut jobs or closed their doors.

The real estate downturn has contributed to the increase in county workers looking for jobs. Growth in the labor force has outpaced job gains over the past year, driving up the unemployment rate.

Finding workers with the right skills for the jobs available also can be challenging, further limiting employment growth, Wray said.

"There are more people looking for jobs, but it's still not where companies have a lot of choices. It's still hard to fill some jobs," she said.

Even at 4.6 percent, county unemployment was better than California's statewide 5.5 percent for the month.

August, however, was the first month since July 1995 that Sonoma County had an unemployment rate equal to or greater than the United States. The national jobless rate also was 4.6 percent for the month.

The national economy has been consistently stronger than the local economy this year. Combined with the weak dollar overseas, national economic gains can boost wine sales, draw more tourists to the county, and increase demand for products manufactured here, Stone said.

"The stronger national economy is our friend," he said.

The unemployment numbers improved in both Mendocino and Lake counties in August.

Mendocino's unemployment rate fell from 5.5 percent in July to 5.2 percent in August. In Lake County, the jobless rate dropped from 7.5 percent in July to 7.1 percent in August.

Like Sonoma County, however, both regions have higher jobless rates than a year ago.

You can reach Staff Writer Michael Coit at 521-5470 or mike.coit@pressdemocrat.com.