By Leon Worden/SCVNEWS.com
Santa Clarita’s unemployment rate held steady in February after climbing to 7.4 percent in January.
The 0.3-percent uptick from December’s 7.1-percent rate was attributed primarily to the loss of seasonal retail jobs after the December holidays.
Although always higher than Santa Clarita, the whole of Los Angeles County didn’t see the same upswing. The county’s jobless rate has stood at 11.8 percent since December.
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Meanwhile, the state and nation’s unemployment rate actually improved over that time. California joblessness fell to 10.9 percent in January from 11.1 percent in December and remained flat in February. The U.S. jobless rate held at 8.3 percent in February after falling to that level in January from 8.5 percent in December.
Across Los Angeles County, the movie industry added the most jobs in February (10,400).
Private education expanded by 7,700 jobs in Los Angeles County during February, especially colleges and trade schools.
The county saw professional services, travel and hotels, government, manufacturing, construction and financial services post modest gains (in that order), while retail trade slashed 6,100 jobs from payrolls, representing 77 percent of the job losses. Wholesale trade, transportation and miscellaneous services also trimmed back a bit.