IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The Inland Empire recorded a five percent unemployment rate in March, essentially unchanged from February but slightly higher than the 4.9 percent predicted one year ago.
Nonfarm jobs in the two-county region fell by 1,600 between February and March, but were up 3,700 year-over-year, according to the state Employment Development Department.
The two-county region’s unadjusted employment rate – which does not take into account seasonal factors that normally impact the job market – was 5.1 percent in Riverside County and 5.0 percent in San Bernardino County, the department reported.
California’s unadjusted unemployment rate in March was 5.3 percent. Nationwide, that number was 4.2 percent.
Nonagricultural jobs in the Inland Empire declined by 1,600 jobs during the third month of 2025, to a total of 1,694,500. Trade, transportation, and utilities lost the most jobs over the month (down 5,000), followed by transportation, warehousing and utilities (down 4,200) and losses in retail trade (down 700) and wholesale trade (down 100).
Government added the most jobs during March (2,000), with virtually all of those in local government, according to the department.
