Posted By thestatedtruth.com on September 17, 2010

What happened to the recovery everyone was talking about a few months ago?  Inquiring minds want to know!

California’s unemployment rate rose to a three-month high of 12.4 percent in August as non-farm payrolls lost 33,500 jobs, the California Employment Development Department said.

The jobless rate increased from 12.3 percent in July, the department said today in a statement. In August 2009, unemployment stood at 12 percent.

“The labor force is getting softer, partly because of expiring benefits and a weak job environment,” Dennis Meyers, principal economist in the state Finance Department, said today in a telephone interview. “The weak job environment discourages people from looking and tends to contract the labor force.”

The California unemployment rate surpassed the national level as the longest recession since the Great Depression continues to hammer the state. In July, California had the third-highest jobless rate among U.S. states, behind only Nevada and Michigan, according to Labor Department figures. The national rate rose to 9.6 percent in August from 9.5 percent in July, hovering near a 26-year high of 10.1 percent in October.

Categories: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News
Tags: california jobless, california unemployment