California's Unemployment Rate Dips To 5.7%
SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) -- California's jobless rate dropped slightly in November to 5.7 percent, down just a tenth of a point from the previous month, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.
The decline was fueled by a net increase of 5,500 nonfarm payroll jobs, according to figures released by the EDD.
The decrease, although slight, continues a trend that's seen the state's unemployment rate fall 1.5 percent from this time a year ago.
The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5 percent.
The number of unemployed Californians stood at 1,082,000 in November, according to the EDD, down by 13,000 from the previous month and 274,000 from the same time last year.
The agency reported more people, 355,913, receiving unemployment benefits in November, however. That was up from 334,244 in October but down from 392,610 in November 2014.
Industries that added jobs in California last month included construction, manufacturing, transportation and utilities, educational and health services, and leisure and hospitality services. The largest gains were made in trade, transportation and utilities, which added a total of 9,800 jobs.
Fields that posted jobs losses in November included government, information and financial services, professional and business services, and mining and logging.
The biggest loser was information, which saw 9,300 jobs vanish.
California's construction industry posted the biggest employment gain over the past year, adding 41,000 jobs, or 5.9 percent.
Manufacturing lost the largest number of jobs, 4,300 or 0.3 percent, during the past 12 months. The largest percentage loss, 9.3 percent or 2,900 jobs, was in mining and logging.
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