UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DIPS SLIGHTLY IN L.A. COUNTY.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

Fewer Angelenos had trouble finding work in August, the second month in a row that state unemployment rates fell, California's Employment Development Department reported Friday.

In Los Angeles County, unemployment dropped slightly to 6.4 percent, down from 6.8 percent in July. Statewide rates declined as well - 6.2 percent in August, down from 6.4 percent in July. Although experts hailed the news as positive, they cautioned it did not signal a larger trend toward re-employment.

The rate's going down, but both unemployment and employment are declining,'' said Bill Freed, the EDD's labor market consultant who handles Los Angeles. ``Apparently, the number of job seekers is declining at a slightly higher rate than the number of jobs. I'd rather see unemployment dropping because jobs are going up, but this is better than nothing.''

Locally, unemployment dropped by 26,000 jobs in August, but the overall work force also declined by 92,000. Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the figures can be skewed somewhat as students unable to find summer work stop looking for jobs and people on vacation take unemployed relatives along.

The hardest-hit sector was government jobs, which lost 4,100 positions - mostly because of seasonal contraction in the public education sector. The battered manufacturing segment also shed another 2,500 jobs and mining lost 100. On the plus side, construction added 2,500 positions and both movie production and business services each brought on 2,100 workers.

``Movie prod employment is recovering,'' Kyser said. ``We're still down over the year, but the trend is heading in the right direction.''

Business services can provide some insight as to the overall economy's health, Freed said. The segment includes temporary staffing, which can provide the first steps back to permanent hires.

``When the economy starts to turn around, often employers are cautious about hiring permanent workers, but they go to temps,'' Freed said. ``That's a good sign that they're going up.''

At Encino-based Success Staffing Services, executives have noticed a flurry of hires, particularly in the past week.

``There's a broad spectrum of companies hiring,'' said Louise Hamaguchi. ``They're looking about and saying: Oh, my goodness, with all those layoffs in the end of the year, there's a lot of work we have to do now. There's paperwork and computer work to do, especially with the end of the year coming up.''

This provides a short-term infusion of jobs, as companies get used to having the additional service, Freed pointed out, and it can lead to long- term positions.

Any dip in unemployment is a positive development, Kyser said. Regardless of the reason behind it, the mere appearance of good news can trickle over into other economic sectors.

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SOURCE: Employment Development Department