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Manteca jobless rate at post-WWII record
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Unemployment hit a post-World War II high in Manteca in July as another 224 people thrown out of work pushed the jobless rate to 15.2 percent.

And things don’t look promising for August as Aqua Pool & Spa - a firm that employs more than a 100 workers of which a number reside in Manteca - closed its doors abruptly this week just as the latest unemployment statistics were released by the California Employment Development Department.

Manteca’s jobless rate had peaked previously in December at 15.0 percent. It then declined for the next four months to 14.1 percent in May before starting to inch up again.

In real numbers, there are 4,300 employable Manteca residents out of work while 23,700 are working.

Statewide the July unemployment figures were unchanged compared to June with 12.3 percent of the work force idle. The national jobless rate remained at 9.5 percent in July.

Countywide, the unemployment rate jumped to 17.4 percent in July from 16.5 percent in June.

The jobless rate in July in Ripon was pegged at 12.3 percent up from 11.6 percent, in Lathrop at 14.2 up from 13.4 percent, in Escalon it was 16.1 percent up from 15.2 percent, in Tracy it was 11 percent up from 10.4 percent, in Lodi 13.3 percent up from 12.6 percent, and in Stockton it was at 20.9 percent up from 19.8 percent.

There were three bright spots in the San Joaquin County economy. Manufacturing added 700 jobs in July while trades and transportation increased payrolls by 500, and another 100 construction jobs were created.

The big losers were farm jobs with 8,800 lost, governments with a loss of 2,700 jobs, education and health services down 400 jobs, financial activities down 200 jobs, and leisure and hospitality that shed 100 jobs.

Government is the No. 1 source of jobs in San Joaquin County with 37,200. That is followed by education and health services with 27,400 jobs, farming with 14,500, manufacturing with 19,100, as well as leisure and hospitality with 16,400.

The jobless rate in the Northern San Joaquin Valley is impacted as much by the Bay Area economy as it is by the local economy. The data reflects the number of available adults who are gainfully employed or not within a certain jurisdiction within the county. Overall, the job count reflects positions available in the county although they could be held by non-county residents just like many Bay Area jobs are held by those who live in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.