Despite losses in some sectors, Riverside County’s unemployment rate was unchanged over a two-month period to mark the end of 2018, state officials reported Friday.
The jobless rate in December, based on preliminary estimates, was 4.1 percent — the same as in November, according to the California Employment Development Department.
The rate was three-tenths of a percentage point lower than the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 4.4 percent, figures showed.
Roughly 46,000 residents were out of work in December, and 1,063,600 were employed, according to the EDD.
The unincorporated community of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide at 10.8 percent, followed by Coachella at 10.7 percent and Winchester at 7.3 percent.
The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month was 4 percent, up from 3.9 percent in November, officials said.
Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded by the widest margin in the retail trade sector, which added 2,000 positions, as outlets remained in hiring mode for the holiday shopping season.
The health services and agricultural sectors together added 2,100 jobs, while the manufacturing, hospitality, information services and mining sectors recorded no changes in payrolls.
The construction, financial services, professional services and public sectors shed a combined 4,400 positions regionally in December, with another 1,200 losses posted in miscellaneous unclassified industries.
According to the EDD, the state’s non-seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in December was 4.1 percent.