With payroll gains outweighing losses throughout the regional economy, Riverside County’s unemployment rate ended 2025 lower than where it started, according figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.
The countywide jobless rate in December, based on preliminary EDD estimates, was 5.2%, compared to 5.5% in November.
The December rate was a tenth of a percentage point lower than in January of last year, when countywide unemployment stood at 5.3%, but the rate was slightly higher compared to December 2024, when the published unemployment figure was exactly 5%.
The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties — the Inland Empire — was 5.1%, down from 5.5% in November, the EDD said.
Data showed that Cherry Valley had the highest unemployment rate countywide in December at 10.8%, followed by Coachella at 9.3%, Rancho Mirage at 8.4%, Valle Vista at 7.6% and Blythe and Hemet, each at 6.9%.
Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded by the widest margin last month in trade, transportation and utilities, where 3,400 positions were added, mainly in logistics.
The health services, information technology and professional business services sectors additionally grew by an aggregate 500 jobs, according to figures.
Payrolls contracted by the largest level in the construction sector, which shed 1,200 positions, while the agricultural, financial services, hospitality and public sectors declined by an estimated 1,000 jobs in December.
The EDD said miscellaneous unclassified industries also posted a loss of 1,000.
The mining and manufacturing sectors were unchanged.
The statewide non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December was 5.1%.