The unemployment rate in Stanislaus County grew slightly in October, but remains below the year-ago estimate and under 10 percent, according to the latest numbers from the Employment Development Department.

The unemployment rate for Stanislaus County in October was at 8.5 percent, up from a revised rate of 7.5 percent in September. The rate is below the year-ago estimate of 9.9 percent. It also marks the seventh time this year that the rate has been below 10 percent.

The slight uptick in the unemployment rate comes as the harvest season comes to a close and jobs in the farming and food processing sector come to a close. The farming sector did add approximately 200 jobs for the month, while the manufacturing sector, which includes food processing, was down by an estimated 3,600 jobs for the month. The manufacturing sector remains above the year-ago number by approximately 700 positions, according to the EDD. The construction sector also saw a decline in jobs for the month.

The government sector added about 500 jobs for the month, most of which were in education, according to the EDD. Trade, Transportation and Utilities, Professional Business Services, Educational and Health Services, and Leisure and Hospitality all added jobs for the month, according to the EDD.

Stanislaus County had an estimated labor force of 241,900, with 221,400 employed and 20,500 unemployed.
California had an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent and the nation had an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent for the same time frame.

Ceres had an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent in October, up from 8.1 percent in September. Hughson had an October rate of 12.2 percent, an increase from the 10.9 percent recorded in September. Keyes saw their rate rise from 13.8 percent in September to 13.9 percent in October. The unemployment rate in Turlock for October was at 7.6 percent, up from a rate of 6.7 percent in September. Denair had a rate of 4.8 percent, up from 4.3 percent recorded in September.

The jobs and professions having the most help wanted ads in Stanislaus County for October were: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers - 632; Registered Nurses - 545; Retail Salespersons - 197; First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales - 152; Customer Service Representatives - 145; Physical Therapists - 125; Light Truck or Delivery Service Drivers - 121; Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing - 117; First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades - 116; and Speech Language Pathologists - 113.

The 10 companies that posted the most help wanted ads for October in Stanislaus County were: TruStaff - 164; Tenet Healthcare Corporation - 133; Sutter Health - 90; E. & J. Gallo Winery - 72; Kaiser Permanente - 67; Ceres Unified School District - 67; Robert Half International - 64; California State University System - 56; Stanislaus County Office of Education - 55; and Supplemental Health Care - 51.