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New state unemployment numbers out Friday capture the point when staggering job losses started to take hold in L.A. due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the latest report from California’s Economic Development Department, L.A. County’s unemployment rate jumped from 4.3% in February to 6.3% in March.
But the official stats don’t paint a full picture of local job losses, because they come from mid-March, before many businesses had fully shut down.
Researchers at USC are also surveying workers to get a more up-to-date measurement of unemployment. In their newest results, only about 45% of L.A. residents still had a job.
L.A. employment levels were down 16% since mid-March, compared to 10% nationwide.
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