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May 16, 2008 1:53 pm US/Pacific
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Unemployment Rate Steadies As California Adds Jobs
SAN JOSE (AP) ―
California's unemployment rate held steady at 6.2 percent in April, as job losses in the construction and banking sectors were offset by strength in other pockets of the economy, the state said Friday.
California shed a negligible 800 of its nearly 15.2 million nonfarm jobs last month, following a revised loss of 2,100 jobs in March, the Employment Development Department said.
The unemployment rate was unchanged from March but up a percentage point from April 2007.
A little more than 1.1 million Californians were looking for work in April, down 1,000 from March but up 192,000 from the same period last year.
The construction industry registered the biggest annual decline in jobs in percentage terms, a reflection of the housing slump, followed by losses in financial services and manufacturing.
The education and health services sector posted the largest job gains, followed by natural resources and mining, and government.
The jobs report offered no additional insight regarding the weak economy, reflected most recently in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's revised economic assumptions for California, said Stephen Levy, senior economist for the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.
He expects the soft economy will contribute to California's budget woes into 2010.
"These numbers are in line with a slowing economy," he said.
Sectors that posted job gains—like schools and hospitals— reflect a need to serve a growing population, while export engines like manufacturing continued to fare poorly, Levy said Total civilian employment in California stood at nearly 17.3 million, up 53,000 from March, the department said.
California's jobless rate stayed well above the national figure of 5 percent in April.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)