L.A. County’s unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent in November from 4.5 percent in October as more people entered into the job market.

The increase in unemployment marks a reversal from the record-low levels of recent months and runs against the traditional pattern of a more robust job market towards the end of the year.

It also puts Los Angeles County closer in line with the state unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, though the county has now edged above the national unemployment rate of 4.8 percent. L.A.’s rate is close to jobless numbers in surrounding counties.

A slight percentage drop in the number of L.A. County residents reporting they were employed combined with a jump in the labor pool contributed to the increased unemployment rate.

“People saw how low the unemployment rate was the last couple months and probably figured it’s a good time to jump in,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

The drop in civilian employment was in part due to lower levels of seasonal hiring than in previous years, especially in the retail sector. Kyser said retail outlets were cautious this year in their hiring plans amidst uncertainty over high energy prices and consumer spending.

Meanwhile, the already sluggish growth in L.A. County payroll jobs slowed even further in November, up 0.4 percent to 4,053,000 from October and up only 0.5 percent from November 2004.

Job gains in retail sales and motion pictures and sound recording during the month of November were offset by losses in the tourism sector as the summer tourist season ended.

But tourism was one of the strongest performers over the past year, adding 9,000 jobs over November 2004 levels. The construction industry also posted a substantial year-over-year gain of 7,700 jobs.

There were continuing losses in manufacturing (off 6,800 jobs year-over-year) and government (down 4.900 jobs). Manufacturing employment has declined year-over-year every month since July 1998; government employment has declined every month since March 2003.

At a local level, the city of Los Angeles posted an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent, up from 5 percent in October. Long Beach’s rate also rose to 5.6 percent from 5.1 percent in October.

The lowest unemployment rate amongst L.A. County cities with more than 100,000 population was 2.3 percent in Torrance followed by 2.8 percent in Santa Clarita. The highest unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in Inglewood, closely followed by 6.0 percent in both El Monte and South Gate.