The unemployment rate in San Diego County last month was 8.8 percent, the same as the revised figure in the prior month, but lower than the 9.8 percent in May 2011, the state Employment Development Department announced today.
The EDD originally reported the April unemployment rate to be 8.7 percent, the lowest in three years, but it was revised upward by 0.1 percent.
The figure for San Diego County for May 2012 compares with 10.4 percent for California and 7.9 percent for the nation, according to the EDD. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Around 6,400 non-farm jobs were created last month, the EDD said.
The agency reported that the construction sector, hard-hit during the recession and painfully slow to recover, added 1,500 jobs last month. Other areas with big gains were financial activities and trade.
Over the past year, the biggest job-gaining sectors in the area were education and health services; professional and business services; and trade, transportation and utilities.
The number of unemployed San Diegans was 139,100, down 14,200 from May 2011. The May 2012 figure was 500 higher than the previous month, but the unemployment rate stayed the same because the labor pool of nearly 1.6 million also grew.
