San Diego County's unadjusted unemployment rate dropped to an even 3% last month, with both farm and nonfarm industries showing job gains, according to data released by the California Employment Development Department.
The April rate, down from a revised 3.6% in March and a tick below the April 2018 rate of 3.1%, is at its lowest point since May 2018.
The county's nonfarm industries gained nearly 8,000 jobs from March to last month, increasing from 1,492,600 to 1,500,400. Farm jobs increased by 300 from 8,700 in March to 9,000 last month.
Nearly every nonfarm industry in the county added jobs in April, with only the mining and logging industry showing no gains or losses, according to the EDD. The construction industry added the most jobs of any industry with 2,200.
"There is a lot of talk out there of concern about the business climate, but it's not a surprise to us that we continue to add jobs," said Sean Karafin, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce's vice president of policy and economic research. "Our monthly survey of businesses, the CalPrivate Bank Business Forecast, continues to find businesses are optimistic about growth each month."
Year-over-year nonfarm employment showed even higher gains, increasing by 20,400 jobs from 1,480,000 to 1,500,400. Farm employment dipped by 400 jobs last month compared to April 2018, falling from 9,400 to 9,000. Multiple nonfarm industries showed year-over-year employment increases of more than 2,000 jobs.
The educational and health services industry added 7,600 jobs from April 2018 to last month, the highest year-over-year gain of any industry. Government and manufacturing jobs each increased by more than 3,000 jobs, as well, according to EDD data.
The trade, transportation and utilities industry showed the largest year-over-year job decrease, losing 2,800 jobs. The information and financial activities industries also lost 500 and 100 jobs, respectively.
The state's unadjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.3% in April, the same as the state's adjusted rates in March as well as April 2018.
Nationwide, unemployment fell from 3.8% in March to 3.6% in April.
