UNEMPLOYMENT UP, BUT SO ARE JOBS

State economists say Kern County’s job market is strong even though our unemployment rate hit 8.6% last month. California labor analyst Rosendo Flores says this is the ninth month in a row unemployment has been in the single digits, something we haven’t seen here for years.

Flores says farms laid off a lot of seasonal workers last month, but hospitality, service jobs, education, and government are picking up the slack.

Kelli Pierce