LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In May Lake County experienced its lowest jobless rate in nearly 30 years, according to the latest unemployment figures released by the state.

The Employment Development Department’s report for May showed that Lake County’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, the lowest rate recorded since 1990.

Lake County’s April unemployment rate was a revised 5 percent, and its May 2017 rate was 5.2 percent, the Employment Development Department reported.

The county’s second-lowest rate for that 28-year period, 4.8 percent, was reported in September, as Lake County News has reported.

The Employment Development Department said California’s overall unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent in May, tying the record low set during April in a series dating back to the beginning of 1976. The May 2017 state unemployment rate was 4.9 percent.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said May’s nationwide unemployment number was 3.8 percent, down from 3.9 percent in April and 4.3 percent in May 2017.

State data showed that agriculture helped fuel Lake County’s low May unemployment numbers, with a 20.6-percent growth in the “total farm” employment category, followed by nondurable goods, 9.1 percent; federal government, 7.7 percent; and financial activities, 2.7 percent. Declines were reported in retail trade, -11.1 percent; durable goods, -7.7 percent; transportation, warehousing and utilities, -3.6 percent; and mining, logging and construction, -2.7 percent.

Rankings for Lake’s neighboring counties are as follows: Colusa, 11.6 percent, No. 57; Glenn, 6 percent, No. 46; Mendocino, 3.2 percent, No. 16; Napa, 2.5 percent, No. 6; Sonoma, 2.4 percent, No. 5; and Yolo, 3.6 percent, No. 25.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.