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Business & Tech

Unemployment Rates Continue to Shrink in Murrieta, County

Murrieta's preliminary unemployment rate in December was 8.2 percent, a number not experienced since March 2009, according to data released Friday by the California Economic Development Department.

For the fifth month in a row, Riverside County's unemployment rate fell—as Murrieta's did—as most sectors of the regional economy expanded, state officials reported Friday.

The county's non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in December, based on preliminary estimates, was 12.5 percent, compared with 12.8 percent in November, according to the California Economic Development Department.

The December figure for the county was almost two percentage points below the year-ago level, when unemployment stood at 14.2 percent.

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Within the city of Murrieta, 8.2 percent of the 27,500 labor force were unemployed in December, according to the non-seasonally adjusted data—a rate not experienced since March 2009.

“Murrieta’s unemployment numbers are improving. We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in Riverside County and rates that are lower than San Diego County," said Bruce Coleman, city of Murrieta economic development director.

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San Diego County's December preliminary unemployment rate was 8.9 percent.

"This reflects Murrieta’s close proximity to the highly diversified San Diego economy and the fact that our workforce is highly skilled and employed in technology jobs in San Diego and Orange County.

"The City of Murrieta is working hard to create additional opportunities for local innovation and entrepreneurship so as to encourage more start-up companies in the Murrieta-Temecula Twin Cities area.”

Riverside County's civilian labor force numbered 918,800 people, with 114,700 unemployed, according to figures.

The city of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide, at 30.4 percent, followed by Mecca at 24.6 percent and Homeland at 24.1 percent, EDD data showed.

In southwest Riverside County, Temecula saw a preliminary unemployment rate of 8.5 percent in December, according to the data. Wildomar had an unemployment rate of 11 percent, Lake Elsinore 12.1 percent and Menifee 13.3 percent.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in December was 12.2 percent, down from 12.5 percent the prior month.

Bi-county data indicated the largest single-sector payroll expansion was in leisure and hospitality, which grew by 2,200 jobs.

The trade, transportation and utilities sector added 1,500 jobs last month, while payrolls in the educational and health services and professional and business services sectors expanded by a combined 2,900 positions.

About 1,400 farming jobs were created last month.

The mining, construction and manufacturing industries contracted, shedding a total of 1,600 jobs, mostly in construction.

The state's non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 10.9 percent, and the national rate was 8.5 percent.

Maggie Avants contributed to this report.

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