WASHINGTON: Riverside and San Bernardino Counties posted a combined unemployment rate of 5.8 percent in March, on par with January and February’s estimates, according to data released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.
Between the February and March counts, employers across both counties added about 9,600 jobs. Public schools in the region hired about 2,500 people in March, according to the EDD, and farms added 1,500 positions. Hospitals, nursing facilities and doctors’ offices added about 1,700 jobs. Transportation and warehousing grew by about 600 positions.
Restaurants, one of the only sectors to cut jobs, lost about 700 positions in March. The EDD reported that there were about 1,974,800 people working in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in March, compared to about 113,800 who were looking for work. Statewide, California’s unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in March. The U.S. unemployment rate was 5.1 percent.
