Humboldt County's unemployment rate improves marginally to 5.4% in February

The Humboldt County unemployment rate in February improved nominally to 5.4%, a slight improvement from the revised rate of 5.6% in January, according to data released by the California Employment Development Department on Friday.

The labor force grew slightly between January and February, to 60,500, but is still below February 2025 levels. And roughly 1,000 jobs were added this February. But the number of unemployed only dropped by 100.

And, as in past months, there is little positive change. Most sectors show zero or negative growth. Year over year, the federal government is down 100 jobs, a 12.5% decline; state and local government is also down 200 jobs from February 2025.

One of the few positives is private education and health services, which gained 700 jobs year over year, but it's a sector that fluctuates by hundreds monthly.

At the state level, the sector is moving in the opposite direction. "Private Education & Health Services (-24,100) led job losses in the state, followed by Leisure & Hospitality (-4,700), which moved against trend with its first job loss after four straight months of gains. Those losses were driven by reductions in Accommodation and Food Services," the state EDD website stated.

Humboldt County ranks 21st in unemployment rate, slightly better than last month, when the county ranked 24th. Surrounding counties are not faring as well. Del Norte's unemployment rate is 7% and it's ranked 37th in the state's 58 counties; Trinity County is 34th at 6.8%; Mendocino County is at 6.5%, ranked 28th.

Within Humboldt County, the unemployment rate in cities and census-designated places varies widely from a low of 3.1% in Trinidad to a high of 9.2% in Redway. Rio Dell and Arcata, which typically have the highest jobless rates, are at 8.7% and 7.2%, respectively. Eureka is doing better than the county overall with a 4.7% unemployment rate. Fortuna is at 4.1%.

California overall lost 19,900 jobs, the state Employment Development Department reported.

The California unemployment rate in February was 5.4%, unchanged from January and below previous highs of 5.5% from June 2025 through December 2025.

Ruth Schneider can be reached at 707-441-0520.

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