Calif. Jobless Rate Falls Slightly to 12.3 Percent
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ California's Employment Development Department says the state's unemployment rate fell slightly to 12.3 percent in June, down from 12.4 percent in May, still they went up in the Bay Area.
The June rate released Friday was higher than in June last year, when it was 11.6 percent.
Bay Area job seekers were hopeful when unemployment rates locally fell in May but now they've jumped 4 tenths of a percent in San Francisco and the East Bay, and two tenths of a percent in the South Bay. Specifically, the West Bay went from 8.9 to 9.3 percent, the East Bay from 11 to 11.4 percent and in the South Bay 11.2 to 11.4 percent.
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Last month was also the first this year in which California reported a loss in jobs _ 27,600 non-farm jobs were lost, with government jobs posting the largest declines.
The drop was partly due to the completion of short-term jobs with the U.S. Census.
The unemployment rate can fall even when there are job losses as people stop looking for work or leave the work force to attend school and are no longer counted.
The national unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent in June.
