Calif. Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly In June
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California's economy is staying soft in the summer, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday, with the jobless rate for June rising slightly even as employers added workers.
The state added 28,800 payroll jobs last month, with only two sectors of the economy showing job declines. California had an estimated 14.1 million non-farm payroll jobs, up by almost 157,000 from June 2010, for an annual increase of only 1.1 percent.
At the same time, a survey of workers – which is used to calculate the jobless rate but is considered less reliable – showed 37,000 fewer people employed in California in June than the previous month. That helped drive the jobless rate to 11.8 percent, second only to Nevada in the nation, and up from 11.7 percent in May.
The California rate fell below 12 percent in April for the first time since 2009, but the state has seen weak job growth or job losses since then.
Seven industry sectors added jobs last month in California, with the biggest rise coming in professional and business services, which added 16,400. Only two sectors lost jobs: Trade,
transportation and utilities dropped by 11,000, and the construction industry declined by 1,100.
The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent in June, adding a net of just 18,000 jobs nationwide.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday showed the unemployment rate rose in June in 28 states, and declined in only eight.
Economists were startled by the low job growth in June and some have cut their projections for July to 75,000 new jobs or less. The economy must generate about 125,000 new jobs each month to keep up with population growth and keep the unemployment rate from rising.
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
