Business
Calif. jobless rate jumps to 6.2 percent
Sacramento | May 10, 2008 12:01:13 AM IST
California's unemployment rate jumped by .5 percent in March to 6.2 percent -- the highest it's been since July 2004 -- state officials said. The Economic Development Department said 1.13 million people were unemployed, mainly in the construction and financial activities sectors, the Los Angeles Times reported. The state's jobless rate was 1.2 percent higher in March than it had been in March 2007. California added 1,000 non-farm jobs from February to March, but the number of unemployed people increased by 84,000. Howard Roth, chief economist for the California Department of Finance, called that a huge increase. He said the deterioration of the housing market was responsible for the increased unemployment -- and told the Times there is no sign of a turnaround. The bubble has a slow leak, so it's hard to tell how long it will take, he said. The higher unemployment rate is likely to cut into revenues for state and local governments, said Stephen Levy, director and chief economist of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto, Calif. (UPI)
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