Solano's unemployment numbers rise

Solano's unemployment numbers rise
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen/ Times-Herald, Vallejo
Posted: 03/06/2009

Solano County's unemployment rate crossed into double digits in January for the first time since local numbers have been kept, newly released state figures show.

The unemployment rate here was 10.1 percent in January, the first time it's broken 10 since 1990 when the state began keeping localized statistics, said Justin J. Wehner, state Employment Development Department labor market spokesman.

The previous highest Solano County unemployment rate since 1990 was 9 percent in 1996, the year Mare Island Naval Shipyard closed, Wehner said.

But Vallejo's jobless rate is better than the statewide 10.6 percent, and the last time California's unemployment rate crossed into double digits was more than a quarter century ago in 1983, as reported last week.

Of California's 58 counties, Marin's unemployment rate was lowest, at 6.6 percent, the latest figures show. Colusa County ranked worst, at 26.7 percent, the statistics reveal.

Napa County's unemployment rate hit 8.5 in January, the figures show, placing that area eighth statewide. Solano County ranked 19th, and while alarming, this figure still places the county within "the better half" of the state's counties in unemployment terms, Wehner said.

If there is good news for Solano County in the latest employment data, it's that half of the 12 major industry sectors here have either gained jobs or not lost any between January 2008 and January 2009. Though the other half of the industries lost jobs over the year, small gains have been made in transportation, warehousing and utilities, education and government education, leisure and hospitality, the figures show.