Jobs in San Diego County dropped during the last month, but only because teachers taking summer break left payrolls in droves.

The county lost almost 12,000 jobs overall from June to July, but the figure was heavily weighted with a decrease of almost 11,000 jobs in state and local government education. Tourism continued to look positive, gaining 1,700 jobs last month, as companies hired for the summer tourist season.

Overall, state statistics showed that the county unadjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, up from 4.2 percent last month, but still below last year's estimate of 4.6 percent for this time period. Unadjusted jobless rates don't account for seasonal employment changes, such as summer or holidays.

Ann Marshall, labor market consultant for California's Employment Development department, said the job loss was nothing alarming.

"These are normal, seasonal declines," she said.

Local figures mirror state trends. California's unemployment rate dropped 9 percent, from 5.3 percent to 4.8 percent, and gained 200,000 nonfarming jobs during the same time period, according to state statistics. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points, from 5 percent to 4.8 percent.

Locally, unadjusted unemployment rates continued to drop across North County compared with last year. Carlsbad had the lowest rate, at 2.8 percent, for North County communities with more than 40,000 people employed. The city's rate is down from 3 percent last year. Escondido and Oceanside had rates that dropped 0.3 percentage points last month, to 4.5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.

Vista scored the biggest area unemployment rate drop of 0.4 percentage points, from 5.6 percent last year to 5.2 percent.

During the last year, San Diego County gained almost 19,000 jobs, according to state statistics. Leisure and hospitality led the way with 4,600 new jobs, with 80 percent of the growth coming in accommodation and food services. Leisure and hospitality represents tourism-related jobs, such as hotels and restaurants.

Professional and business-service jobs increased by 4,300, with heavy growth in administrative and support services, such as temporary help firms.

Labor market consultant Marshall said this month's numbers match national trends.

"Long-term, we are looking at a slowing in manufacturing in San Diego County as well as Orange and other counties," she said. "That's just part of a shift in our (national) economy from manufacturing to business services."

- Contact staff writer Patrick Wright at (760) 739-6675 or pwright@nctimes.com.