Community Corner
Slight Rise in Imperial Beach Unemployment Rate
At 13.7 percent, Imperial Beach's January unemployment rate was lower it was during the same month last year but higher than it was in December 2012.
The unemployment rate in San Diego County was 8.6 percent in January, up from a revised 8.2 percent in December, but below the 9.5 percent figure from January 2012, the state Employment Development Department announced Friday.
That compares with unemployment rates of 10.4 percent in California and 8.5 percent nationwide during the same period. Those figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Imperial Beach's unemployment rate had mixed results in January.
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With a 13.7 percent unemployment rate, California's most southwest city saw a 0.5 percent increase in unemployment compared to December 2012. However that is still more than a percent lower than the 14.9 percent unemployment rate in January 2012.
Imperial Beach continues to be the city with the second highest unemployment rate in San Diego County behind National City.
Find out what's happening in Imperial Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Among ways to find a job, the San Diego Metro Region Career Centers will host a career fair Friday from 1-4 p.m.
SeaWorld Aquatica will have a job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The National City Chamber of Commerce will host a job fair April 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Job seekers may also search the IB Patch Jobs classifieds.
The San Diego region lost around 22,000 jobs between December 2012 and January 2013, according to the EDD.
The biggest job losses over the month came in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which was down 9,400 jobs. About 80 percent of the sector's seasonal losses were in retail trade, mostly from general merchandise, clothing and clothing accessories stores.
Seven other sectors reported losses over the month, including leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services and education and health services, according to the EDD.
A gain of 300 positions was recorded in the financial activities sector and agricultural employment gained 200 jobs.
The agency reported that 137,200 San Diego County residents were jobless in January, out of a civilian labor force of more than 1.6 million people.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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