LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The latest report on California’s jobless rate shows the state numbers holding relatively steady with slight improvement for Lake County.

The Employment Development Department’s report for February said California’s overall unemployment rate remained the same as in January, 5.4%, while there was a 0.1% increase nationally. The state’s February 2024 rate was reported to be 5.3%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the national rate was 4.1% for February, up from 4% in January and 3.9% in a year-over comparison.

In Lake County, the unemployment rate was 7.7% in February, down from 8% in January. Lake County’s February 2024 rate was 7.2%.

Lake County ranked No. 45 for its February rate, according to the report.

Lake’s neighboring county jobless rates and ranks in February were: Colusa, 18.5%, No. 58; Glenn, 7.5%, No. 43; Mendocino, 6.2%, No. 30; Napa and Sonoma, tied at No. 8 with 4.3%; and Yolo, 5.9%, No. 25.

Statewide, the Employment Development Department said the job market expansion reached 58 months in February 2025. California has gained 3,083,700 jobs since April 2020, averaging 53,167 jobs per month.

The number of Californians employed in February was 18,645,700, an increase of 10,900 persons from January’s total of 18,634,800 and up 81,000 from the employment total in February 2024.

In Lake County, there were 24,780 employed individuals and 2,050 people out of work in February.

The number of unemployed Californians was 1,061,000 in February, a decrease of 8,200 over the month but up 60,600 in comparison to February 2024.

Year-over, California’s total nonfarm jobs increased by 78,200 between February 2024 and February 2025, according to the report.

Additionally, February 2025 marked the fourth consecutive month-over decline (-8,200) in unemployed people.

The number of jobs in the agriculture industry decreased from January by 200 to a total of 423,100 jobs in February. The agriculture industry had 16,700 more farm jobs in February 2025 than it did in February of last year.

In Lake County, the number of farm jobs was down by 6.9%, from 1,020 jobs in January to 950 jobs in February. However, farm jobs are up by 15.9% over February 2024.

A look at specific job sectors

The report said three of California's 11 industry sectors gained jobs in February with private education and health services (+18,400) showing gains for the 37th straight month with above average gains in private elementary and secondary schools, and large gains in outpatient care services on the health services side.

In Lake County, private education and health services rose by 1.85% over the month, or 100 jobs, and 9% over the year.

Government (+3,600) also showed a month-over job gain with the largest gains in local government (+5,000), according to the report.

In Lake County, total government jobs rose by 0.4% over the month and 2.2% over the year, with local government jobs growing by 0.5% over the month and 3.1% over the year.

Both the federal (-1,200) and state (-200) government sectors posted job losses. This was the largest loss in federal government since February 2021, according to the report.

Lake County’s numbers showed a loss of 6.7% of federal jobs in February and a year-over loss of 12.5%. State government showed no change over the month but 5.6% since February last year.

Professional and business services (-7,700) posted the state’s largest month-over loss with most of the losses coming from computer systems design and related services as well as with legal services and management, scientific, and technical consulting.

In Lake County, the professional and business services category was down 1.3% over the month but up by 5.7% compared to last year.

In other employment news, the Employment Development Department said there were 407,881 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the February 2025 sample week. That compares to 394,387 people in January and 425,760 people in February 2024.

Concurrently, 42,655 initial claims were processed in the February 2025 sample week, which was a month-over decrease of 3,454 claims from January, but a year-over increase of 1,395 claims from February 2024, the state reported.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, and on Bluesky, @erlarson.bsky.social. Find Lake County News on the following platforms: Facebook, @LakeCoNews; X, @LakeCoNews; Threads, @lakeconews, and on Bluesky, @lakeconews.bsky.social.