Seasonal retail hiring resulted in a slight dip in San Diego County's unemployment rate last month to 4.8 percent, down from 5 percent the month before, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.
The figure also was below the 6 percent unemployment rate recorded in November 2014.
The EDD said the statewide rate last month was 5.7 percent, and 4.8 percent for the nation as a whole.
Over the course of the month, the region gained 11,000 nonfarm jobs, led by seasonal growth of 5,400 retail positions, according to the agency. Government added 1,800 jobs.
In the one-year period up through last month, nearly 38,000 positions have been added in San Diego County, led by 8,600 health care and social assistance jobs. Around 7,300 professional, scientific and technical services jobs were also added during the year.
"San Diego's economy is being driven by growth in high-tech sectors and accessible industries like construction, manufacturing and health care," said Mike Combs, research manager at San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. "Growth in these industries is driving down unemployment and providing mid-to-high wage jobs for thousands of San Diegans."
The San Diego region's unemployment rate has spent 2015 on a bit of a roller coaster ride, with three months of declines early this year followed by three straight months of increases in the late spring and early summer, according to EDD data. That was followed by two more months of lower rates, and then another increase in October.
The EDD reported that 75,900 San Diegans were unemployed in November out of a civilian labor force of 1.57 million people. The total unemployed was 17,000 less than the same month in 2014.
