County Jobless Rate Dips as Work Force Shrinks

Unemployment in Orange County fell to 3.3% in August from 3.5% in July, the state Employment Development Department reported Thursday.

An unusual decline in the number of people in the labor force caused most of the drop in the unemployment rate.

There were 14,600 fewer workers in the county’s civilian labor force during August, the EDD estimated, or about 1.35 million people in all. Of those, 45,000 were unemployed.

Because the number of jobs and workers in the county has steadily grown in the last few years, the drop in the labor force could be a one-month statistical aberration, said Daniel Johnson, county labor market analyst for the EDD.

Or the drop could be the beginning of a trend, with the number of people in the labor force having peaked in July, he said.

High housing prices could be forcing some workers to seek housing and jobs in other counties, Johnson said.

But it will take at least several months more to determine whether the August decline is actually the beginning of a trend, he said.

Meanwhile, the number of new jobs created in the county, while still growing, has slowed considerably from last year, from 4.4% to 2.6%.

Because the county’s economy is unusually strong, unemployment has remained far below the state and national averages.