IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
May was a good month for jobs in the Inland Empire.
The two-county region’s unemployment rate fell to eight percent last month, down from 8.3 percent in April and well below the 9.7 percent jobless rate that was predicted one year ago, according to the state Employment Development Department.
That’s reportedly the lowest unemployment rate in Riverside and San Bernardino counties since May and June of 2008. The Inland region still lags behind both the state and federal unemployment rates, which were 7.1 percent and 6.1 percent respectively last month, according to the data
Year-over-year, nearly 30,000 non-farming jobs were added in the Inland region. The largest gains were in trade, transportation and utilities, where 8,200 jobs were added.
Retail added 3,500 jobs, transportation and warehousing added 3,400 jobs and wholesale trade grew by 1,300 jobs between May 2013 and last month, according to the data, which was released Friday.
Eight other sectors posted significant job growth during the past year, including travel and hospitality, which was up 6,400 jobs, education and health services, which added 5,400 jobs and professional and business services, which was up 4,500 jobs.
The sector “other services” posted a loss of 2,200 jobs, the only sector in the Inland Empire to post a year-over-year loss, according to the department.
