Record 29,000 sought jobs last month in Sonoma County

<p>Sonoma County unemployment rose to 11.3 percent in March, as a record 29,000 people looked for work, state labor analysts said Friday. </p><p>Last month's jobless rate was up from a revised 11.1 percent in February and tied with January's mark. </p><p>The county added 700 jobs between February and March, but even more job seekers joined the labor pool, said Ruth Kavanagh, a consultant with the state Employment Development Department. </p><p>“The labor force is increasing,<NO1><NO>” she said. “That can cause an uptick in unemployment.” </p><p>Those who have stopped looking aren't included in the jobless total. </p><p>The growing number of job seekers is a sign that people are testing the market, said Ben Stone, director of Sonoma County's Economic Development Board. “As more jobs are created, word gets around,” he said. </p><p>Sonoma County unemployment will probably stay above 10 percent this year as the economy slowly recovers from recession, according to Robert Eyler, who heads the Center for Regional Economic Analysis at Sonoma State University. </p><p>“We're going to be around 10 or 11 percent through the end of the year,” he said. </p><p>While there are signs of an economic turnaround, there's no clear roadmap for growth, Eyler said. “We haven't figured out which industries are going to pull us forward.” </p><p>Sonoma County unemployment was 9.5 percent a year ago, with 24,600 people looking for work. Since then, the county has lost 6,800 jobs, with construction, government, retail, finance and manufacturing seeing the steepest declines. </p><p>Statewide, unemployment was a record 12.6 percent in March, with 2.3 million people out of work. The jobless rate in February was 12.5 percent. </p><p>U.S. unemployment was unchanged last month at 9.7 percent. </p><p>Meanwhile, up to 100,000 jobless Californians will run out of unemployment insurance starting today <NO1>Saturday 4/17 <NO>because they've exhausted all their benefits, according to the state. </p><p>Congress extended benefits for California, but some workers have reached the maximum 99 weeks. About 1.7 million were receiving benefits in March. </p><p>“We have more people out of work for a longer period of time,” said Loree Levy, a spokeswoman for the Employment Development Department. </p><p>Sonoma County is adding to its job training programs in response to the spike in unemployment, said Karen Fies, who runs the service. </p><p>Job seekers who want to improve their computer skills can get free online training from Microsoft through the county's Job Link program, she said. Job Link also offers vouchers to help pay for Microsoft's business certification exams. </p><p>Most of the county's industries added jobs between February and March. Government employment increased by 400, but many of those were temporary Census positions, analysts said. </p><p>Tourism jobs increased by 200, while health care, construction and retail each gained 100 positions. The finance sector lost 100 jobs between February and March. </p><p>Neighboring counties also saw unemployment rise last month. Mendocino hit 12.9 percent, up from 12.5 percent in February. </p><p>Lake County's rate was 19.5 percent, up from 19.3 percent the month before. </p><p>In Napa County, unemployment was 10.7 percent, compared to 10.4 percent in February. </p><p>Marin was 8.8 percent, up from 8.4 percent the month before.</p>