Orange County Jobless Rate Falls by Nearly Full Percentage Point to 5.1% : Unemployment: October figure is down sharply from 7% last year. Real estate still lags.

Reflecting Southern California’s brightening employment picture, Orange County’s jobless rate plunged by nearly a full percentage point in October to 5.1%, the lowest level in nearly three years and down sharply from 7% a year earlier, the state Employment Development Department reported Monday.

Buoyed by gains in the services sector, Orange County’s economy expanded by 4,800 payroll jobs last month from September, when the jobless rate was 6%. The number of unemployed in the county fell by 14%, to 68,800. And October marked the county’s first year-to-year gain in payroll jobs since early 1991, prompting analysts to declare that the local economy has finally shaken off its slump and is growing.

“This is the first time we are signaling an expansion,” said Esmael Adibi, director of the Center for Economic Research at Chapman University in Orange.

While Orange County continues to take its hits in aerospace and other manufacturing industries, it has seen gains in such diverse areas such as apparel, health care and international trade.

In Southern California, “the bright light is Orange County,” said Jack Kyser, economist for the Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County.

As previously reported, Los Angeles County’s jobless rate for October was 7.8%, down from 8.3% in September. The jobless rates for Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties also dropped in October, reports released Monday show, but each of those areas lagged the state’s performance.

California’s jobless rate for October stood at 7.7%, down from 8.3% the previous month. Statewide, total employment is still off about 300,000 jobs from its peak in June, 1990. Nationally, unemployment dipped a tenth of a percentage point last month to 5.8%, the lowest rate in four years.

The jobless rate in Orange County is now at its lowest since December, 1991, when it reached 4.8% before beginning a steady climb during the recession. Unemployment in Orange County peaked at 7.9% in July, 1993, but has since edged downward.

Monday’s report showed that 1.28 million people in the county were working in October--up nearly 30,000 from September and an increase of 40,000 over October, 1993.

Like California and the nation, Orange County has seen its job market boosted by continuing growth in the temporary help industry. In October, that accounted for a big part of the county’s 2,100 new payroll jobs in the services sector.

Gene Wilson, president of Thomas Temporaries, an Irvine-based firm with 19 offices in Southern California, said many businesses in the region are still reluctant to hire regular employees permanently, so they call on firms like his.

Orange County’s economy also saw healthy job gains in the amusement industry, health services and educational services. The county also added 400 retail and wholesale trade jobs last month.

Construction jobs in the county were down 100 in October from the previous month, to 45,600. But that was still up by 1,100 jobs from October, 1993, mostly in specialty trades such as plumbing and carpentry.

The only sector that showed significant weakness last month was the finance and real estate industry, which lost 900 jobs, mainly because of lingering troubles in the banking community, where consolidation and closures are continuing.

Fewer Jobless: Unemployment as percentage of the owrk force, for Orange and Los Angeles counties: Orange County 5.1% Los Angeles County 7.8%