Solano County Unemployment Falls in November

Solano County Unemployment Falls in November
By Christine Cube

FAIRFIELD - Unemployment in Solano County fell a bit in November compared to the previous month, according to new figures released by the state Employment Development Department.

The county boasted a workforce of 215,500 - 204,400 employed individuals and 11,100 unemployed. The November jobless rate was 5.1 percent.

For the month of October, Solano County reported a workforce of 216,400 - 205,100 employed people and 11,300 unemployed. The October unemployment rate was 5.2 percent.

Benicia and Suisun City were the only cities to report unchanged employment and unemployment figures from October to November.

The county's unemployment rate is slightly below the state's: California's rate was also unchanged at 5.2 percent.

A year ago, the state's jobless rate hovered at about 6 percent.

Throughout the Vallejo-Fairfield metropolitan statistical area, there were a total of 131,100 jobs in November. That's equal to the number of jobs in November a year ago.

EDD's survey of employers found the increase in nonfarm payroll employment across the state tripled over the month of October with 20,400 extra jobs in November toward a total of 14,842,800 jobs. In October, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 6,800 jobs.

According to a separate survey of households, the number of Californians holding jobs last month was 17,005,000. This marked the end of seven consecutive months of record high employment that eventually reached 17,036,000 in October. Specifically, jobs in California fell by 33,000 over October.

Throughout the state, 939,000 people didn't have jobs, an increase of 3,000 compared with October and down by 117,000 compared with November 2004, according to EDD.

Of the unemployed, 327,500 were laid off, 91,600 left their jobs voluntarily and the remaining were either new entrants or folks returning to the labor market.

Solano County's jobless rate is roughly equal to that of the rest of the country.

The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the November jobless rate was unchanged at 5 percent.

Nationally, the number of unemployed individuals last month was 7.6 million.

Since May, the national unemployment rate has ranged from 4.9 percent to 5.1 percent.

Reach Christine Cube at 427-6934 or ccube@dailyrepublic.net.


Local employment figures for November 2005

Location Labor Force Employment Unemployment Rate

Solano County 215,500 204,400 5.1 percent

Benicia 17,300 16,800 3.1 percent

Dixon 9,100 8,700 4 percent

Fairfield 49,200 46,500 5.6 percent

Rio Vista 2,400 2,300 3.7 percent

Suisun City 15,000 14,200 5.3 percent

Vacaville 46,300 44,600 3.7 percent

Vallejo 65,200 61,000 6.4 percent

Source: State of California Employment Development Department Labor Market Information Division