Riverside County’s unemployment rate dropped last month, despite payroll losses in some Inland Empire industries, state figures released Friday show.
The region’s jobless rate in September, based on preliminary estimates, was 4.4 percent, compared to 4.7 percent in August, according to the California Employment Development Department.
The rate was just over a half percentage point lower than the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 5.1 percent.
Roughly 48,000 residents were out of work in September, and 1,043,600 were employed, according to the EDD.
Coachella had the highest unemployment rate countywide at 13.1 percent, followed by the unincorporated community of Cabazon at 11.3 percent and Winchester at 7.6 percent.
The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month was 4.1 percent, down from 4.5 percent in August.
Bi-county data show that payrolls expanded the most in the public sector, which added 4,200 positions, mainly in education, as teachers and support staff from grade schools returned from summer hiatus.
The retail trade and mining sectors altogether added another 1,800 jobs, according to the EDD.
The construction sector shed the largest number of positions in September, totaling 3,200. The hospitality, professional services, financial services, information technology and manufacturing sectors, along with unclassified miscellaneous industries, reduced payrolls by a combined 3,500 positions.
The state’s non-seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in September was 3.9 percent, according to the EDD.