The EDD reports that the unemployment rate in the San Luis Obispo County was 7.4 percent in September 2012, down from a revised 8.2 percent in August 2012, and below the year-ago estimate of 9.1 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 9.7 percent for California and 7.6 percent for the nation during the same period.
SLO County’s jobless rate spiked in 2009 with the start of the great recession and is just now has dropped to pre-recession levels. In September 2008 the unemployment rate was 6.1% but by September 2009 that rate had climbed to 9.2%.
Looking closer the number of new jobs climbed from 102,800 in September 2011 to 105,300 in September 2012 with 2900 new non farm jobs but 400 fewer farm jobs. The county now sports 1000 more jobs than year ago in the hospitality sector and 600 more doing construction.
Year over year the number of unemployed in the county dropped from 12,700 to 10,500