The official U-3 unemployment rate is now 9.6%, up a tick from the 9.5% we saw last report. However, private employers added 67,000 jobs in August, while July's numbers were revised upwards to 107,000 private sector positions and June numbers were also adjusted to 61,000.
California is suffering disproportionally in the current economic conditions. Unemployment in California is currently (July) 12.3%, and where I am in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area the July preliminary number is 11.5%. Even at the peak of the tech bubble's bursting, in June 2003 the metro area only registered a 9.2% unemployment rate. In January of this year, Santa Clara County had a 12.1% unemployment rate and San Jose Metro had a 12.4% rate. Graphically, here's what it looks like:
- Unemployment Rate: California, San Jose Metro, and National (BLS)
Yellow is the metro area, non-seasonally adjusted. Red is California, Seasonally Adjusted. Blue is national, Seasonally Adjusted.
