Community Corner

Unemployment On the Decline In Murrieta, County

Murrieta had a preliminary jobless rate of 9.1 percent in October, down from 9.3 percent in September and 9.9 percent a year ago. The county rate fell from 14 percent to 13.7 percent.

More Murrieta residents found work in October, according to preliminary estimates released last week by the California Economic Development Department.

Murrieta's non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point, from 9.3 percent in September to 9.1 percent in October. It remained the lowest among Southwest Riverside County cities, based on the preliminary numbers.

Bruce Coleman, economic development director for the city of Murrieta, keeps a close eye on the numbers each month.

Find out what's happening in Murrietawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"As you can see Murrieta has one of the lowest unemployment numbers in the region...reflecting Murrieta's close economic connection with the San Diego tech economy--as witnessed by our ," Coleman said, in a news release.

Temecula showed an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent for October, inching down from 9.6 percent in September.

Find out what's happening in Murrietawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Murrieta and our twin city of Temecula have high skill levels and a strong focus on promoting economic growth as a unique part of Southern California. This is the reason we have joined together to market ourselves jointly to the technology industries in San Diego and Orange County which are more reflective of this region," Coleman said.

The declines were in line with Riverside County as a whole, which slipped from a 14 percent unemployment rate in September to 13.7 in October.

Lake Elsinore was 13.3 percent, down from 13.5 percent, and Menifee's was 14.6 percent. Wildomar showed a 13.1 percent unemployment rate last month, down from 13.3 percent.

The county October figure was roughly one percentage point below the year-ago level, when unemployment stood at 14.8 percent.

Riverside County's civilian labor force last month numbered 913,800 people, with 125,300 unemployed, according to figures. Murrieta had a labor force of 27,200, with 2,500 unemployed.

The city of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide, at 32.7 percent, followed by Mecca at 26.6 percent and Homeland at 26.1 percent, according to EDD data.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in October was 13.3 percent, down from 13.5 percent the prior month.

Bi-county data indicated the largest payroll expansion was in the public sector, with around 8,000 jobs added last month, largely in local education as teachers and other workers at schools returned from summer break.

The trade and transportation, educational and health services and hospitality sectors altogether grew by 4,600 jobs, according to the EDD.

The largest decline in payrolls was in manufacturing, which shed 1,900 positions. The construction industry contracted by 900 jobs, and around 1,200 jobs were lost in the business services sector, data indicated.

The state's non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 11.2 percent, and the national rate was 9 percent.

A year ago in Murrieta, 9.9 percent were unemployed.

Coleman said recent Twin Cities efforts have included working to create the new group, as well as supporting the ongoing work of the Murrieta/Temecula Valley Software Developers Group.

"And we are working to connect our companies to export opportunities and to the UCR school of engineering tech innovation programs," Coleman said.

"The future of the Murrieta/Temecula region is high tech, high skill. This area is the 'Future of Southern California.'"

City News Service contributed to this report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here