Nov 21, 2008 5:51 pm US/Pacific
State Jobless Rate At Its Highest In 14 Years
SACRAMENTO (AP) ―
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California's unemployment rate jumped from 7.7 percent to 8.2 percent in one month.
AP
California's unemployment rate jumped to 8.2 percent in October, making it the highest rate in 14 years.
In the same month, Los Angeles County saw an increase in unemployment to 8.4 percent, the Employment Development Department reported Friday. In Orange County, where seasonally adjusted numbers were not available, the jobless rate was 6 percent, up from 5.7 percent in September.
State officials are preparing to ask the federal government to step in with a federal loan on Dec. 1 so they can continue paying jobless benefits to California's now more than 1.5 million unemployed. Nearly one-third have lost their jobs in the last year.
The rate announced Friday by the State Employment Development Department is up from 7.7 percent in September, and from 5.7 percent in October 2007.
The largest hit came in the construction industry, which has lost 65,900 jobs statewide in the last year.
Between September and October, total nonfarm employment increased by 14,400 jobs to just more than 4.1 million in Los Angeles County. Manufacturing, construction and leisure and hospitality all experienced month-over-month decreases, with most of the manufacturing job losses occurring in nondurable goods.
A total of 415,000 people were unemployed in October in Los Angeles County, which has a labor force of 4.97 million.
Statewide, more than 1.5 million people were out of work -- up from 1.4 million in September.
The department said its monthly survey found 527,918 people were receiving regular unemployment checks in October.
But the fund from which California makes those payments is on the brink of insolvency. Its unemployment insurance fund is expected to have a deficit of $2.4 billion at the end of 2009, forcing it to borrow from the federal government for only the second time since the program was established in the 1930s.
If no steps are taken to increase the fund's revenue or reduce its payouts, its deficit is projected to hit $4.9 billion by the end of 2010.
Gov. Schwarzenegger used Friday's news to remind the state legislature that urgent action is needed.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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