Unemployment rates in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties continued to inch downward in July, though all three remained at historically high levels in the fourth month of the coronavirus pandemic.

The combined civilian unemployment rate for the tri-county area was 10.7 percent in July, according to a Business Times analysis of data released Aug. 21 by the California Employment Development Department. That was down from a combined rate of 12.1 percent in June but it is near the worst figures of the Great Recession in 2009 and 2010.

San Luis Obispo County had the lowest unemployment rate in the region in July, at 9.9 percent, down from 11.5 percent in June. Santa Barbara County’s rate was 10 percent, down from 11.6 percent in June. In Ventura County, the rate in July was 11.3 percent, down from 12.6 percent the month before.

Unemployment in all three counties peaked in April at just under 14 percent. In all three counties, the biggest job losses over the past year were in leisure and hospitality, retail and education.

All three Central Coast counties had healthier job markets than the state as a whole. California’s civilian unemployment rate was 13.3 percent in July, down from 14.9 percent in June.

One year ago, the statewide unemployment rate was just 4 percent.