SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego had the second lowest unemployment rate among California's most populous metro areas this year between July and September, according to a report released Wednesday by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation.
San Diego's third-quarter unemployment rate sat at 3.2 percent, bested only by San Francisco at 2.5 percent. The rates in both cities fell 0.5 percent between the second and third quarters. Compared to the other most populous metro areas in the country, San Diego ranked 10th in the third-quarter unemployment rate.
The leisure and hospitality industry lost the most jobs in the private sector during the third quarter, 2,300, due to the end of the summer tourist season, according to the EDC. State and local government also saw losses of 4,600 and 6,000 jobs, respectively, possibly due to the end of the school year.
Venture capital dollars also improved in quarter three, according to the report. Venture capital deals totaled $907 million, a vast majority of which -- $761 million -- went to healthcare companies in San Diego County. San Diego's venture capital funding increased 69.3 percent over 2018's second quarter and was the highest total in nearly a decade.
The report was not completely rose-tinted for San Diego County, however. San Diego County's median single-family home price in quarter three, at $650,000, was second only to San Francisco's $989,000 among the country's most populous metro areas. Median home prices in San Diego rose 0.8 percent from quarters two to three and 7.1 percent from 2017's third quarter.
