Unemployment Rate Edges Up

Sonora, CA — The unemployment rate edged up last month for the State of California, and locally here in the Mother Lode.

Tuolumne County’s rate increased from 6.5% in November to 6.9% in December. Calaveras County’s rate went up from 6.1% to 6.3%. California’s statewide rate increased from 5.7% up to 5.8%. Looking at 2015 as a whole, sectors that added jobs in California included construction, trade, transportation, health services, leisure and hospitality. Categories that had declines included logging, mining and manufacturing. For the year, California’s Employment Development Department reports that the number of jobs in California increased by 459,400, or 2.9%.

The county with the lowest unemployment rate last month was San Mateo at 3.1% and the highest was Imperial at 19.6%.