Imperial County unemployment rate numbers

Imperial County’s unemployment rate for the month of May came in at 20.5 percent. Meanwhile, California’s unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent in May, tying the record low that occurred in November-December 2000, according to data released today by the California Employment Development Department (EDD).

The state’s nonfarm payroll employment grew by 17,600 jobs in May, and California has now gained a total of 2,510,900 jobs since the economic expansion began in February 2010. The U.S. unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point in May to 4.3 percent, with employers nationwide adding 138,000 nonfarm payroll jobs.

In April, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, and in May 2016, the unemployment rate was 5.5 percent. The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,500 California households. Nonfarm payroll jobs in California totaled 16,697,500 in May, according to a survey of businesses that is larger and less variable statistically. The survey of 71,000 California businesses measures jobs in the economy. The year-over change, May 2016 to May 2017, shows an increase of 242,600 jobs (up 1.5 percent).