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Unemployment Breaks Records at 9.7%
Although job losses are less, a 9.7 percent rate is the highest for national unemployment since June 1983 when it was at 10.1 percent. "Nonfarm payrolls declined 216,000 last month compared to a revised 276,000 drop in July, the Labor Department said Friday," according to the Wall Street Journal, which notes the news is not as bad as it sounds. "Even though the loss is huge by historical standards, it's an improvement; monthly job cuts earlier in the year totaled as much as 700,000. The economy has lost 7.4 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007."
State unemployment numbers for August have not been released yet, but July, at 11.9 percent, was record breaking for California.
A recent study found that Los Angeles ranked 47 out of 50 in the Job Market Competition index, meaning there's one job posting for eight unemployed people per night.
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