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As of March 2008, there were an estimated 314,500 employed people in Kern County and a labor force of 352,600, according to data from the California Employment Development Department.

Some 38,100 people were unemployed. The county’s unemployment rate of 10.8 percent was up from 8.8 percent in the same month the previous year. That’s compared with an unemployment rate of 6.4 percent statewide and 5.2 percent nationally. Total jobs in the county grew to 273,000 in March 2008 from 268,000 in March 2007, a difference of 5,000.

Farm jobs grew by 1,200 to 31,500 during the same year, and nonfarm jobs grew by 3,800 to 237,700.

The most job growth was in clothing and accessory stores, up 23.5 percent to 2,100. The steepest decline was at general merchandise stores, down 9.1 percent to 1,000.

For more information, visit the Web site for the state Employment Development Department at www.edd.ca.gov.