LAKE COUNTY — The state Employment Development Department released on Friday its preliminary unemployment figures for September.
Lake County ranks 53 out of 58 California counties with a 17-percent civilian unemployment rate, according to the EDD. The jobless rate is down 0.2 percent from August.
The data accounts for self-employed persons, household domestic workers and workers on strike.
The number of unemployed individuals in Lake County has not changed since August, remaining at 4,430, but the number of individuals in the county”s labor force has decreased by 340.
Farm labor in Lake County has been hit the hardest, losing 500 jobs in the last month, according to the EDD preliminary figures, which have yet to be seasonally adjusted.
Government jobs have increased by 290 in Lake County since August, the majority of which can be attributed to 330 new local government employees, according to the EDD.
The 17-percent unemployment rate for Lake County is up from the 14.5-percent rate the county had in September 2009.
Lake County”s rate for September 2010 is significantly higher than the state”s unemployment rate of 12.2 percent and the country”s 9.2-percent rate.
Imperial County, located in the southeast corner of California bordering Arizona and Mexico, has the worst unemployment rate in the state: 30.4 percent.
The four other counties ranked below Lake County are Yuba, Alpine, Trinity and Sutter.
Marin County has the best rate of unemployment, sitting at 8.4 percent as of September. Napa County is fourth best, at 9.3 percent.
The rates of other neighboring counties are Mendocino at 10.7 percent, Colusa at 15.7 percent and Sonoma at 10.2 percent.
