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Despite gains, California has second-highest jobless rate in U.S.

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Employers in California added the second-largest number of jobs among the 50 states in October, but that strong performance didn’t prevent the state from posting the country’s second-highest unemployment rate for last month.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Tuesday that California’s unemployment rate of 11.7% -- down from 11.9% in September and 12.5% in October 2010 -- was higher than all states and the District of Columbia, with the exception of neighboring Nevada.

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Nevada, which has been hard hit by the downturn in construction that started during the recession of 2007-2009, posted an unemployment rate of 13.4%. Michigan and Mississippi had unemployment rates of 10.6%, and South Carolina was at 10.5%.

The national unemployment rate was 9%, 0.7 of a percentage point lower than what it was a year ago.

North Dakota,with its booming energy industry, reported the nation’s lowest unemployment rate: 3.5%.

Overall, 36 states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate decreases in October; five states had rate increases and nine showed no change in joblessness, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The biggest jump between September and October was in Illinois: 30,000 net new jobs. California came in second with 25,700 new jobs. In the last year, California has gained a total of 239,100 jobs, about a fifth of those lost in the recession.

Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state last month, 9,700, followed by New York with 8,300 and Minnesota with 6,100.

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At international summits, Obama stuck to jobs messages

-- Marc Lifsher

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