California unemployment hits 6.8% - Up 1.5% on one year

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-caljobs21-2008jun21,0,1488855.story

California unemployment hits 6.8%

That's 1.5 percentage points higher than last year, the state reports. The May rate is the fifth highest in the nation now.
By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:07 AM PDT, June 20, 2008

SACRAMENTO -- California's unemployment rate in May soared to 6.8%, up six-tenths of a percentage point from April and a whopping 1.5 percentage points higher than it was a year ago, the California Employment Development Department reported today.

[XemaSab]

1. Good to know I'm not alone

:P

[SoCalDem]

2. They are low-balling that number

I think people would be shocked to know the "real" number..

When someone loses a $15hr job with benefits and has to settle for TWO $8 hr jobs with NO benefits, that's really still being "unemployed"....but on the books, it shows up as a net GAIN ...because they do NOT factor in the VALUE of the jobs lost v gained

[spinbaby]

3. All that and a real-estate meltdown, too

They say that as California goes, so goes the nation.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. I can't believe this isn't a bigger story. If the nation's unemployment rate jumped 1.5% it would be

all over the news.

[Cleita]

4. I'll bet it's twice that if they measured it accurately by counting people

who are out of work and in need of a job.

[OhioChick]

6. Hurting here in Cleveland, too.

Ohio's unemployment rate rises to 6.3 percent

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2008/06/ohios_unemployment_rate_rises.html

[AlCzervik]

7. there were a lot of homebuilders that left in the middle of the night, slinking away

and that's also left many people out of jobs.