California Unemployment Rate Hits to 10.5 Percent

Friday, March 20, 2009 11:35 AM

SAN FRANCISCO -- California's unemployment rate increased to 10.5 percent in February from 10.1 percent in January as the most populous U.S. state's economy worsened, a state report said Friday.

California's February jobless rate far exceeded both the state's 6.2 percent rate a year earlier and the national unemployment average for February of 8.1 percent, according to the report by the state's Employment Development Department.

California lost 116,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in February from January and 605,900 nonfarm jobs from a year earlier, marking a 4.0 percent decrease in nonfarm payrolls, the report said.

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