Near record-low unemployment in the San Diego metropolitan region continued in August, with the rate falling to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent in July.
The state Employment Development Department reported there were 1,529,800 employed in San Diego County in July and just 54,300 unemployed.
The unemployment rate in San Diego was below the state level of 4.2 percent and the national level of 3.9 percent.
Economists say that even with a strong economy, there were be some “frictional unemployment” due to workers changing jobs.
The lowest unemployment rate in San Diego in recent years was 2.9 percent in December 1999, while the highest was 10.9 percent — more than one in 10 workers — in March 2010 during the Great Recession.
With the end of the summer and teenagers going back to school, the countywide workforce fell by 8,200 in August, with the largest decline in the hospitality sector.
“August is usually uneventful in the labor market as schools reopen and summer ends, but this particular August we’re seeing some changes in leisure and hospitality,” explained Phil Blair, executive officer of Manpower/Staffing San Diego.
“In the past ten years, leisure and hospitality has typically gained jobs in August,” he said. “This year, however, this sector lost 1,900 jobs. Whether a result of technology improvements, minimum wage increases or something else, there are new forces affecting jobs in this industry.”
