New year’s job losses across most sectors of the Inland Empire economy drove the unemployment rate up nearly 1 percentage point in Riverside County, state officials reported last week.

The county’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in January, based on preliminary estimates, was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in December,

according to the California Employment Development Department.

The data – published weeks later than usual due to a yearly revision process undertaken by the EDD – showed January’s unemployment rate was roughly three percentage points higher than a year ago.

The unemployment rate in Riverside and San Bernardino counties combined was 15 percent in January, compared to 14.1 percent in December, according to the EDD. Bi-county data showed a decline of 19,500 jobs in that one-month period.

Jobs in trade, transportation and utilities dropped by the widest margin, with the retailing industry shedding some 5,600 positions, reflecting post-holiday season cutbacks, labor market analysts said.

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[ Chatton and Associates ] and business services sector shrank substantially as well, with some 3,600 jobs slashed in human resources, custodial services and technical support, according to the EDD.

The financial services sector posted the only gain, adding around 100 jobs in the areas of insurance and banking, data showed.

The total size of the civilian labor force in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in January was 1,768,400, with 264,900 unemployed.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in San Diego County rose to 11 percent in January, up from a revised 10.3 percent the previous month. The unemployment rate in San Diego County in January 2009 was 8.4 percent, according to the state agency.

Between December and January, the San Diego region shed 17,400 jobs, with most of those in the leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation and utilities sectors, according to the EDD.

The state’s jobless rate in January was 13.2 percent, and the national unemployment rate was 9.7 percent.