Sonoma County jobless rate up slightly in June

The unemployment rate in Sonoma County rose to 4.2 percent in June, up from 3.4 percent in May, but is still down from a year ago, according to monthly figures from the state Employment Development Department (EDD) released Friday.

The adjustment is a seasonal one, according to EDD Labor Market Consultant Janet Klaven, as schools are out for the summer and students are looking for jobs.

The county continues to see job growth, especially in the hospitality industry, with 1,000 more jobs added from May to June. Health care saw an increase of 500 more jobs for the month, and 1,200 for the year, an increase of almost 6 percent.

Total employment in Sonoma County increased by 2,000 workers from May to June, to a total of 210,200.

Farm payrolls grew by 200 workers in the county in the same period, and is unchanged for the year.

The county tied with Napa for the fifth-lowest jobless rate in the state, preceded by Santa Clara, San Francisco and Marin tied for second, and San Mateo counties.

The county’s new jobless rate is below the state rate of 4.7 percent and the U.S. rate of 4.5 percent.

The information and technology sector continues to be an industry in the county where there are more jobs than qualified candidates. When it comes to hiring information technology talent, the North Bay doesn’t compare to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, where potential employees can earn 30-40 percent more money, according to Tim Harrington, managing director at Kavaliro, a Florida-based staffing firm with an office in Petaluma.

“It’s an interesting time, and it’s probably getting worse,” he said. “San Francisco is even drawing employees from other states. Companies are in a situation where positions go unfilled for six to nine months, impacting the organization by perpetuating employees doing more than one job.”