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Orange County has been classified by the U.S. Department of Labor as an area of substantial unemployment. The unemployed total rose sharply over the year from 37, 200 in June 1973 to 45, 000 in June 1974 to 52, 600 in December 1974, and was just belbwthe peak of 52,800 recorded in 1971 at the height of the aerospace layoffs. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate reached a three-year low of 5.1 percent in June 1973, and then rose almost without interruption to 6. 1 percent in May 1974 and 7.4 percent in December 1974. The fiscal year closed with a temporary drop to 5.8 percent in the adjusted rate, but in July 1974, the rate was again at 6.1 percent. The high unemployment rate was caused by the following factors: 1. A construction industry strike which caused secondary layoffs in related industries; 2. A slow down in the rate of residential construction; 3. The resident labor force is growing at a faster rate than the number of people being employed. The number of Orange County residents with jobs also increased in December primarily because of thc availability of part-time and temporary Christmas jobs. The resident labor force in Orange County shrank by 2, 000 in September as full-time students returned to school and agricultural activities declined seasonally. Total employment dropped 1,100 over August to 675, 800 and unemployment fell from 44,700 to 43, 800. Thc decrease in unemployment was considerably less than usual for a September, however, and the seasonally adjusted rate jumped from 6.0 percent in August to a thirty-month high of 6.5 percent. The volume of long-term unemployed who exhausted their claims for unemployment insurance rose rapidly since the first of the year. The annual average unemployment rate for women in 1973 was estimated to be 6.9 percent (16, 650 women) of the female labor force, while their male counterparts showed a rate of 5.4 percent (19, 350 men) of the male labor force. * The desire to buy a house and/or the inflationary trends has caused many married women to continue their premarital jobs or has caused them to enter the job market.. These increasing trends have resulted in fewer job openings for new job seekers in the former case or more competition for job openings in thc latter case. State of California, Employment Development Department 00008