Ramona Unemployment Rate Drops to 6.9% in August

The unemployment rate in Ramona last month was 6.9 percent, down from a revised 7.2 percent in July, and below the 8.5 percent recorded in August 2012, the state Employment Development Department announced Friday.

The agency said about 600 Ramonans were unemployed last month, out of a workforce of 9,100.

The EDD said the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for San Diego County last month was 7.4 percent, statewide it was 8.8 percent, and the U.S. figure was 7.3 percent.

Over the last year, the San Diego region has gained 14,800 nonfarm jobs, with several thousand positions added in each of the education and health services, health care and social services, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services sectors.

Construction lost 1,800 jobs last month in the county, but remains 700 positions higher than a year ago, the EDD said.

-City News Service contributed to this post.