Kern's unemployment soars to 15.1 percent
| Friday, Dec 18 2009 11:15 AM
Last Updated Friday, Dec 18 2009 11:17 AM
The unemployment rate in Kern County stood at 15.1 percent in November, according to figures released by the state Employment Development Department on Friday.
This November's figures are slightly worse than October, when the rate stood at 14.5 percent.
Figures of note
* Kern lost 5,000 jobs from October to November of this year, and 6,700 year-over-year.
* The largest loss between October and November of this year was in agriculture, which shed 6,000 jobs. But that is typical for the season. Year-over-year, 600 agriculture jobs were shed.
* Non-farm jobs gained 1,000 positions from October to November, but lost 6,100 year-over-year.
* Leisure and hospitality suffered the most losses with 300 fewer jobs from October to November, and losing 400 year-over-year.
So how did Kern County stack up?
* California's unemployment rate for November stood at 12.2 percent.
* Worst county in the state? Imperial, with a 29.2 percent jobless rate.
* Best county in the state? Marin, with only 8 percent out of work.
And how did the county's cities shake out?
* Arvin, 37.1 percent
* Bakersfield, 10.6 percent
* California City, 11.9 percent
* Delano, 36.3 percent
* Maricopa, 16.6 percent
* McFarland, 29.9 percent
* Ridgecrest, 8.7 percent
* Shafter, 25.8 percent
* Taft, 14.6 percent
* Tehachapi, 10.2 percent
* Wasco, 26.8 percent
