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California's Unemployment Plateaus, Still 3rd Highest Rate in U.S.
There were basically no changes in California's unemployment rate from June to July, which is holding steady at 12.3%, California's Employment Development Department announced today. But in Los Angeles County, the rate increased from 12.3% to 13.4%.
Statewide,9,400 jobs were lost, most in the government sector thanks to Census workers jobs ending, but the private sector grew by 13,700 jobs. L.A. County has a total laborforce of 4,906,300 people with 655,100 of them unemployed last month.
The national unemployment rate sits at 9.3% and California has the third highest rate behind Nevada and Michigan.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was quick to chime in this morning. “In order for California to experience a full recovery, there must be robust hiring in the private sector," he said in a statement. "That is why I have been so adamant in my opposition to tax increases - both because additional burdens on employers will stymie growth and because we shouldn’t penalize private sector employment in order to subsidize public sector wages and retirement benefits."
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