BAKERSFIELD: New employment numbers for the month of August show that Kern County added 6,000 jobs last month, according to preliminary numbers from the state’s Employment Development Department.
That puts the county at 9.4 percent unemployment, down from 9.6 percent in July. That number is also below the August 2016 rate of 9.7 percent unemployment. Most of the jobs added last month were in education, agriculture, and retail. Kern County’s unemployment remains far above the unadjusted rate for California of 5.4 percent and the unadjusted national rate of 4.5 percent.