The State of California Employment Development Department is reporting 6.8 percent unemployment for Santa Clarita in May – unchanged from April – and 11.1 percent for Los Angeles County, which had 540,000 residents unemployed. Within the state, L.A. County ranks 26th with Marin County showing the lowest unemployment at 6.3 percent and Imperial County (in the Southern California border region) suffering under a 26.8 percent jobless rate.

Six other counties had rates below 8.0 percent in May: San Mateo (6.8 percent); San Francisco (7.4 percent); Santa Barbara (7.4 percent); Napa (7.5 percent); Orange (7.5 percent); and San Luis Obispo (7.8 percent).

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting a decrease in California unemployment down to 10.8 percent for the month of May. The largest over-the-month employment increase nationally occurred in California with the addition of 33,900 jobs, followed by Ohio with 19,600 and New Jersey adding 17,600.

In May of 2011, California recorded an unemployment rate of 11.9 percent indicating a 1.1 percent drop one year later.

Still, California lags behind the national average of 8.2 percent unemployment. Nevada continued to record the highest unemployment rate among the states, with 11.6 percent in May with Rhode Island second at 11.0 percent and California third highest.

According to the EDD within non-farm industries, eight sectors saw month-over job gains; three sectors saw a month-over job decline.

The sectors with increased employment in Los Angeles County during May were:

Leisure and hospitality (13,200)

Professional and business services (10,500)

Educational and health services (10,500)

Manufacturing (3,000)

Constrution (2,600)

Financial activities (1,100)

Information (1,000)

Mining and logging (200)

Sectors that lost jobs in L.A. County were:

Government (3,300)

Trade, transportation, and utilities (3,300)

Other services (1,600)