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Golden State Economy Still Tarnished

Joblessness was at a staggering 12.2% in September

By Scott Weber

| Friday, Oct 16, 2009 | Updated 2:00 PM PST

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California just can't get a break. A recent survey showed the state's unemployment rate was higher than expected and still struggling to recover. Joblessness was at a staggering 12.2% in September. There was some minor good news-- it was a slight improvement over last month's revised 12.3%, according to the LA Times.

Despite hints of an improving economy, California keeps shedding jobs. Employers cut 39,300 workers from their payroll in September. Job losses were almost six times greater than in August according to officials. L.A. County joblessness climbed to 12.7%, the Times said.

The national rate is 9.8%.

The construction sector was one of the worst hit, losing nearly 14,100 jobs. State and local governments, hit hard by the recession, shed 12,700.

Stephen Levy works for the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy. "We are disproportionately hit in the government sector because our state and local governments are having worse budget shortfalls than in other states," he told the Times.

In total, the state has lost 732,700 jobs over the last year.

"It is discouraging," Esmael Adibi, an economist at Chapman University, told the Times. "We want to see job losses go down and the pace slow down, but we didn't see it."