California unemployment rate drops to single digits in November: 9.8%
For the first time since the beginning of the Great Recession, the unemployment rate in California dropped below 10% last month, to 9.8%. The last time that the unemployment rate in California was below 10% was in January 2009, when unemployment was at 9.7%! The Employment Development Department reported the drop yesterday, from 10.1% unemployment in October.
The improvement, led by a surge in technology jobs that have spurred a wave of new construction, comes as something of a surprise. Leading economists had predicted that California’s unemployment rate would remain in double digits through 2013.
That is just another reason that economics is known as “the dismal scieence” – the dismal predictions by so-called “experts.” 😉
Although California has one of the nation’s fastest-growing economies, its unemployment rate still lags behind the average for the U.S. as a whole: 7.7% SFGate.com says:
About 14.4 million Californians were working last month, and the recovery varied significantly across the state. Imperial County had a whopping 26.6 percent unemployment rate, while rates in many inland counties remained in the double digits.
Expansion in high-paying technology jobs helped the San Francisco Bay Area remain the state’s growth leader, said Stephen Levy, a senior economist at the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.
The unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in Marin County, while San Francisco and San Mateo counties hovered above 6 percent.
The information sector, meanwhile, showed the biggest percentage gain in jobs over the last year, up nearly 6 percent. <emphasis mine>
Growth in San Diego County also has been strong, Levy said. Los Angeles County and others nearby also have joined the recovery, while the Central Valley is slowly regrouping.
Moronic behavior in national government, particularly with regard to addressing the fiscal cliff, could halt the rapid recovery now seen in California.
Without a deal, automatic spending cuts will slash local government budgets and raise tax rates for workers as the nation struggles to get over the effects of the Great Recession. Also, unemployment benefits for 400,000 Californians would expire next month without an agreement from Congress and the president.
Brinksmanship and the refusal to compromise, particularly by House Republicans, threatens California’s recovery, that of the U.S., and that of the entire world.
Let’s hope that they “wise up” very soon.
-Bill at
Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”
You can view higher-resolution photos at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. The Cheshire Cat Photo Store on Zazzle® contains a wide variety of apparel and gifts decorated with our images of California. All locations are accessible from here. LIKE Cheshire Cat Photo on Facebook here! If you don’t see what you want or would be on our email list for updates, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.