Posted on 09/18/2009 6:29:30 PM PDT by lbryce
California’s unemployment rate in August hit its highest point in nearly 70 years, starkly underscoring how the nation’s incipient economic recovery continues to elude millions of Americans looking for work.
While job losses continue to fall, the state’s new unemployment rate — 12.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — is far above the national average of 9.7 percent and places California, the nation’s most-populous state, fourth behind Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island. Statistics kept by the state show California’s unemployment rate was 14.7 percent in 1940, said Kevin Callori, a spokesman for the California Employment Development Department.While California has convulsed under the same blows as the rest of the country over the last two years, its exposure to both the foreclosure crisis and the slowdown in construction — an industry that has fueled growth in much of the state over the last decade — has been outsized.
Total building levels in California have fallen to $23 billion this year from $63 billion in 2005; home building this year is less than a quarter of what it was in 2005, according to the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. Roughly 500,000 of the state’s job losses have been in construction, finance, real estate and industries related to construction.
“We were at the epicenter of the housing bubble, and we are at the epicenter of the fallout,” said Stephen Levy, senior economist and director of the center. “The reason we are doing worse in California than other states is construction.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I don't understand.
Didn't they declare the recession **over** just a day or two ago?
That it hit bottom in June??
That Obama had declared the recovery having already begun??
Then,*WHY* isn't the California economy taking heed??
Hmm. Could the California economic situation portend something more serious, ominous?
Could it be the proverbial canary in the economic coalmine??
Stay tuned.
Ah, the foul stench of Obamaism in the morning.
Keep it up, Obamloon. Hope you enjoy the revolution.
Bush’s fault
They voted for change, and they got it. Enjoy!
its sad the situation here the unions want more money,illegals still have jobs in this state and I’m here without a job :(
IT’S THE ECONOMY, BARAQ!!
We need to destroy Democrats in Congress on the economy in 2010.
Everything they propose hurts business.
No wonder business won’t hire anybody.
GF works at RICOH - said just announced mass layoffs,anybody
left will have to take 2 days off a month W/O pay and all
benefits are frozen
Yep sounds like recession is over to me....
I would blame it on the stimulus.
The stimulus of MArxism. That has to make every business owner and employer leap with joy!
Self-inflicted domestic terrorism on farmers doesn’t help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI3I0UTCUqg
sadly you’re right I voted for McCain/palin and I knew he was inexperienced the majority of the people I know voted for him and still have no clue what his agenda really is.
My co. has never had a layoff in the 25 years or so it has been around. That word is floating around officially now. If it happens to me, I will either be first or last. First time for everything.
Jim Robinson is from central California IIRC
If ACORN could just import more “working girls” it would be lower.
I guess this is what happens when BIG government spreads everybody else’s wealth around.
“Is it a shock that these states have high unemployment?”
What’s shocking is Massachusetts’ unemployment isn’t higher!
Im a closet republican.:)
but registered as non-partisan
where are the jobs?????
let me guess...its taking a long time for obamas friends to set up funnels for the stimulas money
1940 was the Great Depression, if a republican were President the headline would be and should have been that we have the highest unemployment here since the “Great Depression”, not in “almost 70 years”.
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