San Diego Unemployment Rate on the Rise

The unemployment rate in San Diego County climbed in July—for the second month in a row—to 7.8 percent, the state Employment Development Department announced today.

The figure compares with a revised unemployment rate of 7.4 percent in June and below the 9.5 percent recorded in July 2012, according to the EDD.

The agency said the rate in California last month was 9.3 percent, and the U.S. rate was 7.7 percent. Neither the state nor national numbers were seasonally adjusted.

The region has gained 19,900 jobs over the past year despite the loss of 10,900 nonfarm position last month, the data showed.

Most of the losses between June and July came in government, with 15,400 -- about two thirds of which were in education. Still, over the past year, the EDD said the government sector -- including education -- has gained 400 positions.

The sectors that gained workers, according to the EDD data, included leisure and hospitality, 2,700 in July and 4,100 over the past year; and construction, 2,600 last month and 2,900 over the past 12 months.

Nearly 126,000 San Diegans were out of work last month out of a civilian labor force of more than 1.6 million. The number of jobless was about 7,000 more than the previous month but around 27,500 fewer than July of 2012.

The region's unemployment rate had declined steadily since the beginning of this year, bottoming out at 6.8 percent in May before rising 0.6 percent in June and another 0.4 percent in July, according to the data.