Gilroy Unemployment Tops County Average

Unemployment rates changed little in California and in the Bay Area in July, according to a report released today by state employment officials.

California's unemployment rate hovered at 10.7 percent in July for the second month in a row, according to the California Employment Development Department. That rate is lower than the 11.9 percent rate seen in the state a year ago, but higher than the U.S. rate of 8.3 percent.

Santa Clara County's rate is still below the state average at 8.7 percent or total of 79,600 residents unemployed. But in Gilroy it hovers high at 13 percent. Morgan Hill sits below is at 11.2 percent.

The Orchard City is still doing better than the state and county average, at 7.4 percent of its labor force unemployed or a total of 1,800 residents.

In the county, the lowest unemployment numbers belong to Los Altos and Saratoga, each with 4.4 percent.

San Martin comes in with the highest unemployment numbers in July, at 20.3 percent.

Marin County, which maintains the lowest jobless rate in the state, saw a small increase for the second month in a row, from 6.6 percent in June to 6.7 percent in July.

Meanwhile Solano County, which has the highest unemployment rate in the Bay Area, saw a small decrease, from 10.5 percent in June to 10.3 percent in July.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, San Francisco saw a slight decrease, from 7.8 percent in June to 7.6 percent in July. Alameda County was at 9.5 percent.

The state's unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,500 households around California.

--Bay City News contributed to this article