California unemployment rate remains at 6.2 percent

Just days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pumped up his deficit forecast for California's next budget, new April job numbers show that the economy isn't coming to the rescue.

Statewide unemployment remained unchanged from March at 6.2 percent, up 1 percent from a year ago, according to California Employment Development Department figures released Friday. The statewide figures are adjusted for normal seasonal hiring patterns.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento area's unadjusted unemployment rate – which gives equal weight to seasonal jobs – dipped to 6.1 percent in April, the department reported, down from 6.4 percent in March. EDD does not provide seasonally adjusted unemployment figures for the Sacramento region.

"The implication of the slowing economy is that (the state's) budget woes will continue into 2009 and 2010," said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto.

Even the Sacramento region's unemployment dip is a bit deceiving, experts said. The four counties included in the number – El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo – actually lost 700 jobs. The unemployment percentage dropped because many people stopped looking for work.

"It's not a good picture for the Sacramento area this month," said Jeff Michael, director of the University of the Pacific's Business Forecasting Center. "There's not much to cheer about."

The leisure and hospitality industry was the Sacramento region's largest loser, down 1,300 jobs.

"That includes areas like retail and restaurants," Michael said. "That's where Sacramento took a hit."

The downturn reflects continued consumer worries over higher prices for gasoline and food, Michael said, and that Sacramento area residents live in one of the nation's worst housing markets.

The leisure and hospitality industry statewide added 3,300 jobs, up 0.2 percent from March to April. The sector has grown 1.3 percent, or about 23,000 jobs, in the last year, according to EDD figures.

By comparison, jobs for teachers, nurses and others in educational and health services grew 3.3 percent in the past year.

The prospect of a sluggish economy, slow payroll tax growth and less consumer spending prompted the Schwarzenegger administration officials earlier this month to lop off $6 billion from their earlier forecast for revenue from income, corporate and sales taxes in the next year.

The state faces a $15.2 billion budget deficit in fiscal 2009, according to the governor's latest projections.

Figures showed that April nonfarm payrolls lost 800 jobs statewide. In March, the state lost 2,100 jobs. Compared with last April, California's nonfarm sectors added 23,400 jobs, a 0.2 percentage point gain.

California's 6.2 percent unemployment rate ranks third behind Michigan's 6.9 percent and Alaska's 6.7 percent.

"It's a very tough time to be looking for work," said Leonila Sahagun, a 32-year-old registered phlebotomist who has been out of work for five months.

On Friday, Sahagun sat at one of the computer stations at EDD's Broadway offices in Sacramento and searched for job openings.

"I've had a couple of interviews," she said. "There's just not a lot out there for me."

Government added the most jobs statewide last month, 5,400, while construction, down 4,100, led the state's major industries in job losses.

In the Sacramento region, government payrolls grew by 600 jobs, while professional and business services added 300 jobs.

Local construction payrolls grew by 100 jobs, the third straight month the sector added workers. Most of the jobs were in areas such as highway, street and bridge building.

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