Mother Lode’s Unemployment Rate Below State Average

Sonora, CA — The California Employment Development Department has released new jobless rate statistics.

For the month of October, the state’s unemployment rate dipped to 9.3-percent, the lowest it has been since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March. Tuolumne County’s rate was 8.3-percent, Calaveras was 6.6-percent and Mariposa was 7.3-percent.

State leaders warn that the drop could be short-lived, however, as many of the counties across the state have now moved to the most restrictive “purple” COVID-19 tier. The change notably impacts sectors like hospitality and restaurants.

66,000 new jobs were added in October, but there still remained 1.7 million Californians out of work, about a million more than this time last year.