State Officials Report Increase in Unemployment

CNS - The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Los Angeles County increased to 5.6 percent in December, state officials have reported.

The December unemployment rate was above the 4.5 percent rate in December 2006, according to the Employment Development Department, and up from 5.3 percent in November.

In Orange County, where seasonally adjusted numbers were not available, the jobless rate was 4.3 percent last month, down from 5.6 percent in November.

The seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in December, up from 5.6 percent in November and 4.8 percent from December 2006.

The comparable estimates for the nation were 5 percent in December, 4.7 percent in November and 4.4 percent in December 2006.

Between November and December, total nonfarm employment increased by 12,700 jobs to reach more than 4.18 million in Los Angeles County. Much of the growth was attributable to retail trade, with general merchandise and clothing stores accounting for 64 percent of the job gains—a typical result of the holiday shopping season.

A total of 281,000 people were unemployed in December in Los Angeles County, which has a labor force of 5 million.

Statewide, about 1.1 million people were out of work—up slightly from November.

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