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Unemployment rate creeping down in San Diego County

The downward trend should continue, unless businesses are shut down again.

SAN DIEGO — Finally, there is some good news for people who have lost their jobs in San Diego County. The unemployment numbers are going down.

It appears the unemployment rates have peaked in the county, according to the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), mainly because businesses are starting to reopen.

News 8 has been following a local man, Terence Davis, who recently landed a new job after being out of work for months.

RELATED: California unemployment agency overwhelmed with claims

“I am happy with the new job. I mean, it's a pretty decent job. I’m working as a driver with Dexcom,” Davis said.

The new job is a bit ironic for Davis, because he didn't receive any money from the state unemployment agency EDD for nearly three months. Now that he’s employed, he received the money.

“I did finally receive the 10 weeks of funds that they owed me,” he said.

The former Mira Mesa resident recently received the back pay from the EDD for the months he spent unemployed and living in Tijuana.

If it wasn't for a News 8 viewer seeing Davis on the evening news and giving him $500, Davis may have ended up on the streets.

“Honestly, it was your help and just basically diligence of 'just keep trying to go after it' is what solved the problem,” he said.

The economic picture is starting to look better in San Diego County as unemployment numbers are heading down.

“We’re definitely moving in the right direction and I believe we are past the peak of the unemployment, as long as we don't have to shut down businesses again,” said SANDAG Chief Economist Ray Major.

But the economist said we are not out of the woods yet.

“Even at 15.9%, this unemployment rate is unprecedented.  When we look at the unemployment rate at the peak of the Great Recession, the unemployment rate was 10.8%, so we are about 50% higher right now than we were in the Great Recession,” Major said.

More than a quarter million San Diegans still need to return to work before we can say things are back to normal, Major said. Still, there are jobs out there and eventually the EDD may come through with claim money.

“We need the money to live and survive off of, and if they're not giving it to you and it's rightfully yours, I would definitely fight for it,” Davis said.

Davis said he is making plans to move back to San Diego so he does not have to cross the border every day to come to work.

San Diego County’s unemployment numbers are a bit higher than the national numbers because much of the local economy is based on tourism, which has been one of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic, according to the SANDAG economist.

RELATED: Frustration mounts over EDD unemployment claims backlog

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