Much of the job erosion is fueled by a "double whammy of sharp declines in real estate prices and the high cost of energy," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands. "Many people in low incomes are having difficulty making ends meet."
That's the fix Celeste Knox is in. She is one of about 10,000 government workers laid off by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in an effort to save cash amid a six-week standoff with legislators over how to fill a $15.2-billion hole in the state budget.
Knox, 39, a single mother of two, said she closed on the purchase of a house in the Sacramento suburbs just hours before she got her pink slip July 30.
"I'm looking for work and going to temporary agencies," she said. "I thought I was secure, but now I'm stuck out here with the rest of the people."
Knox has plenty of company. The job picture darkened statewide in July with the creation of only 900 jobs in two broad areas: trade, transportation and utilities; and education and health.
At the same time, employment dropped by 15,800 in nine other industries, including construction, manufacturing, information, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality and government.
In the L.A. metropolitan area, the unemployment rate rose even higher, reaching 7.5%, up from 7% in June. Local job losses last month were particularly deep in government and the motion picture and sound recording field.
The unemployment rate was worse in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, rising to 8.9% in July from a revised 8.1% in June.
Orange County fared better, with the rate reaching 5.7% in July, up four-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month.
Schwarzenegger, attending a U.S.-Mexico border governors' meeting in Los Angeles, tried to put California's worsening economic predicament in the best light.
"Construction and financial services continue to struggle in California, but I am encouraged about recent increases in housing purchases and that other job sectors -- while they do not have the robust growth we want or expect in California -- are holding steady," he said.
Schwarzenegger promised to include an "economic stimulus package" in the state's overdue budget.
He said he'd like to speed up the funding of public works to generate more construction jobs.
Any boost in building could be a boon to Elvis Orellana, 30, who lost his job as a painter for a Monterey Park contractor in March.
"I barely have money to pay the rent," he said. "Business is slow, so nobody's hiring. I can't find anything full-time or part-time.
"I need work, but it's just no good out there right now."
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marc.lifsher@latimes.com
conor.sanchez@latimes.com
