Kern County unemployment figure ticks up in December due to losses in agricultural sector

Jan. 21—The state's Employment Development Department released its employment numbers for December on Friday, revealing Kern County saw a 0.3 percent increase in its unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate in Kern County was 7.7 percent in December 2021, up from a revised 7.4 percent in November 2021, and below the year-ago estimate of 10.8 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 5 percent for California and 3.7 percent for the nation during the same period.

There were 13,700 fewer people in the workforce compared to December's figure, with the agricultural sector continuing to see significant losses locally. Nearly 90 percent of the job losses, approximately 12,200 positions, were farm jobs, which reported 72,100 jobs in November versus 59,900 in December.

Overall, the numbers are a slight reversal of an upward trend that the area had seen in previous months, which had been steadily trending down since reaching 10.9 percent in June; 10.7 percent in July; 9.9 percent in August; 8.7 percent in September; 8.3 percent in October; and 7.4 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The county's 7.7 percent unemployment figure for December placed Kern 53rd out of 58 counties in California, and 2.7 percent behind the statewide unemployment figure for December, which was 5 percent, which also trailed the national figure of 3.9 percent.

Small gains were seen locally in the education and health services sector, which picked up 400 jobs, as well as the trade, transportation and utilities sector (300) and financial activities (100).