Unemployment appears to be on an upward trend. Shasta County’s jobless rate last month was 5.6%, up from November’s rate of 5.2% and the 4.4% rate from December of 2022. The year-over change was mostly dominated by a significant loss of government jobs. The labor force dropped by 700 from November, but from the previous December the labor force dropped by 1,500 workers. Tehama County had a 6.4% unemployment rate last month. It was 6.3% in Trinity County and 7.3% in Siskiyou County. The jobless rate for California was 5.1% and it was 3.5% nationwide.