SACRAMENTO AND LOS ANGELES — A loss of nearly 42,000 jobs last month pushed California's unemployment rate to 8.4%, a 14-year high and the third-highest jobless rate in the country.
California's November unemployment figure lagged behind only Michigan with its crippled automobile industry at 9.6% and Rhode Island at 9.3% after job cuts this year in retail, manufacturing and services.
Nationally, unemployment hit 6.7% in November. In Los Angeles County, it rose to 8.9% in November from 8.3% in October.
The state's jobless rate was up from 8.2% in October, the Employment Development Department reported Friday.
And economists say the grim news isn't over.
"I don't at the moment see any kind of turnaround," said John Husing, a Redlands private economist who focuses on Southern California and its international ports. "My instinct is 2010. I think 2009 is going to be the worst year we've seen in many moons."
For Jean Battalia, 29, an out-of-work substance-abuse clinic director from Long Beach, 2008 is plenty bad enough.
"I don't have groceries. I'm not getting a Christmas tree," she said. Battalia lost her job in May and is about to exhaust her initial unemployment benefits. She's hoping for an extension and spends part of every day using free library computers to get e-mail and send out resumes.
"I'm feeling more and more hopeless," she said. "I'm not trying to wallow in self-pity, but positivity can only go so far."
Finding work doesn't look as if it's going to get any easier in the months ahead as seasonal sales wind down and some stores reduce operations or go out of business. Large employers have filed legal notices with the state that they intend to cut about 9,000 jobs, with big hits expected at airlines, high-tech companies, food processors and manufacturers.
Even once-strong hiring in healthcare and government is showing signs of weakening next year. A projected $41.2-billion state budget deficit could lead to involuntary furloughs and wholesale firings of workers at state and local government agencies, school districts, community colleges and public universities. For now, one of the economy's only real bright spots is in motion picture and sound recording, which gained 3,900 jobs in November as studios geared up production for 2009 and 2010.
