Obviously what we observe in the workplace is showing up in the numbers:
State Has Nearly Half of U.S. Job Loss
New figures for July show that the state's employers cut another 21,800 jobs from their payrolls, the sharpest decline this year.
By Marla Dickerson, Times Staff Writer
California's labor market declined sharply in July as the state's employers axed another 21,800 jobs or nearly half the positions lost in the entire nation last month, according to government data released today.
Analysts cautioned that the figures by the state's Employment Development Department could be overstated because of seasonal factors. The government sector took the heaviest pounding, due largely to declines in local education. Those jobs are notoriously tricky to adjust for the seasonal ebb and flow of teachers from the classroom.
Even so, there was little to cheer about in July's numbers as California struggles along with the rest of the nation amid a "jobless recovery." Nearly every sector of the California labor market posted losses, from retailing and transportation to manufacturing to business services, demonstrating a widespread reluctance among employers to hire.
Worse yet, the losses are accelerating. July's cuts were the biggest so far this year, and California has shed jobs in five out of the last six months. More than 1.1 million Californians are unemployed, nearly a quarter of them have been out of work more that six months.
The state's unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 6.6% in July, but only because more people quit looking for work and dropped out of the labor force. Northern California continues to suffer the fallout from the long technology downturn. The unemployment rate in Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, stood at 8.4% last month. Southern California, meanwhile, has fared better.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 6.2% in July. |
