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Yet Another Broken Record: California Unemployment at 11.5%
May's unemployment numbers are the state's highest in modern record keeping, according to the Department of Labor. That's a loss of 69,000 jobs with a majority in the government sector and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to lay off 5,000 state employees in his latest budget plan. Other cuts in that plan would force other government agencies to cut jobs, too. Compared to a year ago May, unemployment was 6.8%. Since then, a total of 885,000 jobs have been lost. Four other states, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina, had higher rates.