California now has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the
nation. The State Employment Development Department says it
hit 11.2 percent last month.
Capital Public Radio's Steve Shadley reports…
The state says California lost more than 62-thousand jobs in
March…and that's what's pushed the rate up so quickly. In
February the state's adjusted jobless rate was at 10.6
percent.
Esmael Adibi is Director of Economic Research at Chapman
University in Orange County. He says one of the only bright
spots is agriculture which gained jobs last month…and that's good
for California's central valley…
"Unfortunately for southern California and northern California…more
important than that is professional business services…such as
accountants, attorneys, architects, and financial services.
These are high value added jobs that are lost and unfortunately I
don't see those things coming back very soon…"
Adibi says California also is starting to see a loss in health care
jobs, which typically fares better than other sectors during
economic downturns. Nationally, the unemployment rate hit
eight-and-a-half-percent in March.