California gained a healthy 52,200 jobs in September as unemployment held steady at 5.1 percent, state employment officials reported.

The Golden State’s monthly job report, released Friday, Oct. 20, showed statewide payrolls expanding by 1.7 percent year over year, to 16,830,500 positions.

In Southern California, the Inland Empire, spanning Riverside and San Bernardino counties, showed the fastest year-over-year growth, adding 35,100 positions to reach a total of 1,436,100, a jump of 2.5 percent.

Orange County payrolls were all but flat, adding 5,700 jobs year-over-year for a total of 1,591,500, a gain of 0.4 percent.

Los Angeles County payrolls, covering the metro area of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale, added 50,800 positions year-over-year for a total of 4,448,600, an increase of 1.2 percent.

“California’s economic recovery was largely led by its more populous coastal areas which employ roughly three times more Californians than the inland metro areas do,” noted Mark Vitner, Wells Fargo’s senior economist.

“This past year has seen a bit of a shift, as growth has moderated along much of the coast and picked up momentum in some inland areas.”

Statewide, the most dynamic sectors were educational and health services (up 3 percent), government (up 2.3 percent) and construction (up 5.7 percent).

In September 2016, California’s unemployment rate was 5.3 percent. The U.S. rate stood at 4.2 percent.

Here are the trends in the four-county area:

Orange County

The county’s unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in September, down from 4 percent a year earlier.

Construction year over year added the most jobs, 7,800, with 90 percent of the gain reported by specialty trade contractors. Heavy and civil engineering construction added 1,200 jobs while construction of buildings declined by 400 jobs.

The leisure and hospitality sectors expanded by of 4,500 jobs with 70 percent of the gain in hotels and restaurants.

The largest decline, 5,300 jobs, came in manufacturing. Government lost 3,200 jobs.

Inland Empire

Combined joblessness in Riverside and San Bernardino counties was 5.4 percent in September, down from 6 percent a year earlier.

Year-over-year, the biggest gain was in construction, with 16,200 positions. About 85 percent of the growth was for specialty trade contractors (up 13,800). Heavy and civil engineering construction rose by 1,400 jobs, followed by construction of buildings, which added 1,000 jobs.

Leisure and hospitality payrolls expanded by 5,100, educational and health services jobs were up 4,600, and government added 3,400 jobs.

Professional and business services lost 500 jobs.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County unemployment was 4.9 percent in September, down from 5.2 percent a year earlier.

The health care and social assistance sectors posted the largest year-over growth of 24,500 jobs, with individual and family social services, up 14,800, accounting for most of the expansion.

Other growth areas: personal and laundry services (up 5,400); construction (up 6,400); professional and business services (up 6,100), and leisure and hospitality (up 5,400).

Government payrolls shrank by 5,700. Local government educational services showed a steep drop of 10,000, which was somewhat offset by increases in state and federal government jobs.

State unemployment estimates are derived from a federal survey of 5,100 California households. Nonfarm payroll jobs numbers are calculated from a survey of 71,000 California businesses that is larger and less variable statistically.

The California and Los Angeles numbers are seasonally adjusted. The numbers for Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are not.

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