Unemployment fell again in California last month, while job growth picked up in Sacramento at a rate not seen since before the recession.
California's unemployment rate fell a tenth of a point in June to 10.7 percent, the Employment Development Department said today. About 38,300 jobs were added across the state as the California recovery kept advancing despite signs of a slowdown on the national level. It was the second straight month of solid job growth.
Dennis Meyers, principal economist with the state Department of Finance, said he was encouraged that job growth was seen well beyond the tech sector, which has been carrying the state for the past year or so.
"The recovery is kind of broadening out," he said. Strong growth was reported in construction and the leisure and hospitality sector, he said.
In Sacramento, the unemployment rate jumped four-tenths of a point, to 10.8 percent. But analysts said a more reliable barometer was that payrolls grew by 9,400. It was the best one-month surge in jobs in Sacramento since May 2006, said EDD labor market consultant Justin Wehner.
He said the unemployment rate grew because of an influx of "kids exiting school, entering the labor force and looking for jobs." The job growth wasn't enough to keep pace with the students seeking work.
He noted that the Sacramento construction industry is showing signs of life, and 4,800 construction jobs were added in June. That's three times the usual hiring for the month, Wehner said.
California has added 475,300 jobs since fall 2009, a little more than one third of the jobs that vanished in the recession.
"We're still climbing out of a pretty deep hole," Meyers said.
Nevertheless, he noted that California added 147,700 jobs in the first six months of 2012. That was the best half-year run since 2005, he said.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Dale Kasler
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.