California's unemployment rate has dropped in recent months, but that's little comfort to Melina Donalson.
The Mount Washington fashion designer has been looking for steady work since February. Unable to land a full-time position, she has taken a string of temporary assignments to make ends meet -- one of a growing number of Californians in the same predicament.
The number of state residents classified as "involuntary" part-timers, meaning they are working fewer than 35 hours a week because they can't find full-time employment, has jumped 30% to 648,000 workers since the beginning of last year. That's nearly 4% of those employed.
Nationally, the increase is slightly steeper, up one-third over the same period to 4.2 million workers.
It's a sign of the times in a sluggish economy as companies keep a tight rein on labor costs, analysts say. It's also one of several indicators showing that California's employment climate is drearier than a falling jobless rate would suggest. Although the state's unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% in September, down from its post-recession peak of 6.5% this summer, economists say that's due mainly to seasonal factors and a rise in discouraged job seekers. They are no longer counted in the jobless tally because they've stopped looking for work.
Among the other signals pointing to the underlying weakness in the job market:
* California has lost more than 50,000 payroll jobs over the last year, and job creation is at a virtual standstill.
* The state's unemployed are remaining jobless longer.
* The manufacturing sector has shed jobs in 19 of the last 20 months, while factory hands are working fewer hours than they did a year ago.
* Unemployment among California's teenagers has soared to 18.2%, and joblessness among nonwhites recently hit a six-year high of 8.5%.
Analysts say California's economy, like that of the nation, appears to be inching forward in a slow-motion recovery. The nation's gross domestic product expanded at a 3.1% annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. But that growth has yet to trickle down to job seekers such as Donalson.
"I'm surprised at how hard it has been" to find a full-time job, said the 33-year-old, who has sent out dozens of resumes with no success. "Employers are being really careful now."
