Recession watch: Unemployment up in L.A., California

California's unemployment rate in July rose to 7.3%, its highest level in 12 years as many areas of the economy shed jobs.

The state's nonfarm payroll shrunk by 14,900 jobs last month, the California Employment Development Department reported today. The unemployment rate increased by three-tenths of a percentage point from a revised 7% for June and now stands almost two full percentages points higher than the 5.4% it was at a year ago.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale Metropolitan area rose even more than for the state, reaching 7.5%, an increase of half a percentage point. Local job losses last month were particularly severe in the government and the motion picture and sound recording fields.

The unemployment rate was worse in the Inland Empire, rising to 8.9% in July from a revised 8.1% in June. Orange County fared better, with the unemployment rate reaching 5.7% in July from a revised 5.3% the previous month.

Since July 2007, California has lost a total of payroll 75,900 jobs -- down to 15.1 million.

The steadily worsening unemployment is evidence that California's economic weakness is spreading from the hard-hit construction, real estate and financial sectors to other once-healthy fields, said Howard Roth, chief economist for the state Department of Finance.

-Mark Lifsher

(Read whole story here).

Comments

[josh]

Perhaps electing a the most Liberal president of all time, who wants to raise taxes and redistribute wealth (because the Government's role is/should take money from one person and give it to another)

Perhaps letting illegals just come as they please and shut down hospitals and school systems (because Spanish is just as important to speak as English in the U.S. and the rest of the world, never mind that the international language of business is English, that might offend someone)

Perhaps letting the rest of the world go to hell and weakening our military is a good Idea.

Perhaps this will give all those jobs back to Californians.