SAN DIEGO—The optimistic Phil Blair, executive officer of Manpower San Diego, tells GlobeSt.com that despite the October rise in the region's unemployment rate to 5%, he expects this number to decrease and stay low through next year. Despite a slight uptick in the unemployment rate, San Diego's economy showed strong signs of growth.

San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. reports that, according to statewide data released by the California Employment Development Department for the October 2015 period, San Diego's unemployment rate rose .4 points in October from September. However, when compared to October 2014, the unemployment rate dropped by 1%. San Diego's unemployment rate is below the statewide average of 5.7%. Also, despite an uptick in unemployment, there are still 15,700 fewer unemployed individuals than there a year ago—a 16.7 % decline.

GlobeSt.com spoke exclusively with Blair about the numbers, what they mean and what he expects will happen with San Diego jobs in 2016.

GlobeSt.com: What stands out for you about the uptick noted by EDD in San Diego's unemployment rate?

Blair: I'm a relentless optimist; my cup is always half full. When you peel back the layers, I think people saw a 4.6% unemployment rate in September and thought, "I'm going to jump right back into the job market," so there was a chunk of people who did this. The other thing is that in September, the leisure business slows down, so summer workers for July through September were released from their part-time

jobs—they were working and now they're not. And, in September, you didn't see a surge of teachers and educators going back to work like we did. We've added jobs, which is good news. So, all those things going together explained it. You never want to go from 4.6% to 5% unemployment, but that explains it. Also, we haven't had holiday hiring in October; it starts later in October for November and December.

GlobeSt.com: How does the unemployment rate here compare to previous years?

Blair: A year ago, it was 6%, so dropping to 5% is great. The state of California had 5.7%, and the nation was 4.8%. Not that I'm competitive, but I always want San Diego to be at or better than the national rate. We will always be better than California as a whole because it has the Imperial Valley and some other struggling areas where unemployment is as high as 25% or 28%, so this balances it out. Nationally, I want San Diego to be better in every category. I'm really anxious to hear the county's numbers in a couple of weeks since the county added 211,000. Anything above 200,000 is good.

GlobeSt.com: How do you anticipate the unemployment numbers to play out over the next year or two?

Blair: I think we're going to have a good year, and we will get down to the 4%s quickly. Because of our nature with the leisure industry, hotels and summer employment dip in the fall; then retail picks up and then the holidays are over, so it drops in February. I think we'll see ourselves stay in the 4%s and stay in the mid- to high-4%s for 2016, which is great. If I were a betting man, I'd bet we will be lower than the national rate for unemployment for 2016.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the San Diego unemployment rate?

Blair: Companies are taking longer to hire; they're being much more cautious and waiting for the exact right candidate. They're also not posting openings, but they are saying, "If we bump into the right person for this job, we're going to jump on it." This is why candidates should go on informational interviews. Get in front of HR because they may have openings you don't know about. That's how we hire in the private sector. Also, for every $10,000 in salary you are seeking, it will take you a month of searching.