Upside of the Downturn: Kern County Unemployment Falls in May

The unemployment rate in Kern County dropped to 14.2 percent in May, according to data released Friday, June 19. The rate was 9 percent in May 2008, but the current report is a welcome decline from the 14.8 percent reported in April 2009 and the high of 15.9 percent reported in March—the third highest in the nation at the time.

Nationwide, the May unemployment rate was 9.4 percent. California’s 11.5 percent is fifth highest in the nation.

This is part of the June 26, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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