Holiday Season Hiring Helps Trim Unemployment Rate; Lowest Since March '09
WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) - Holiday hiring seemed to trim the unemployment rate in the Bay Area and nationwide, according to new numbers from the government.
The U.S. unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than two and a half years, as employers stepped up hiring in response to the slowly improving economy. In San Francisco, the jobless rate dropped to 8.1 percent in October.
The Labor Department says the unemployment rate dropped sharply to 8.6 percent last month, down from 9 percent in October. The rate hasn't been that low since March 2009, during the depths of the recession.
In California, the unemployment rate remained at 11.7 percent.
Nationally, employers added 120,000 jobs last month. And the previous two months were revised up to show that 72,000 more jobs added - the fourth straight month the government revised prior months higher.
Still, one reason the unemployment rate fell so much was because roughly 315,000 people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.
On the other hand, hundreds of people have secured jobs since Bay Area stores began seasonal hiring in September.
KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
Job counselors point out that temp work can lead to a permanent gig.
"After the holidays, sometimes on an on-call basis, and sometimes on-call employment can lead to full-time employment," reasoned Abby Snay with Jewish Vocational Services in San Francisco. "We worked with a woman about a year ago who had lost her own small business, got a holiday job at Macy's, went from seasonal to on-call and then just a couple of months ago, was hired on a permanent basis."
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