Here's more evidence that California is losing its struggle against recession: The state shed 20,300 jobs in January, more than the other 49 states combined for the month, a government report showed Friday.
That comes on top of more bad news. California's job engine sputtered nearly to a halt last year, adding just under 15,000 positions, or 0.1%, to the state's payrolls, according to the Employment Development Department's revised annual figures, also released Friday.
The state's job losses in the first month of the year swept across several sectors, with construction, information and financial services among the hardest hit.
In Los Angeles County, strain from the Hollywood writers strike was apparent. Nearly 20,000 of the 75,800 jobs that disappeared in the county in January were in the information category, which includes film-industry and sound-recording workers.
The slump is taking its toll on people such as Gabriele Larmon of Port Hueneme, who was laid off from her administrative university job more than two years ago. Larmon's insurance is set to run out this month, and she's been unable to find a new job in academics or to get new insurance.
"I'd just like to get my foot in the door for anything," said Larmon, 52, who estimates that she's applied for 600 to 700 positions online in the last year. "I don't know if it's my age, but I just can't get a job."
Larmon said she had to move in with her daughter because she could no longer make her mortgage payments and the bank refused to renegotiate the terms. "Everything has just fallen apart," she said.
In all, 15.2 million people were employed in California in January. The state's unemployment rate held at 5.9%, unchanged from December's revised rate and up from 5% in January 2007.
The figures show California's hard-hit home-construction sector was a drag not only on the state economy but also figured prominently in the U.S., posting its first job losses in more than four years in January.
The U.S. economy as a whole dropped a net 17,000 jobs during the month -- fewer than California alone, meaning that California's losses were offset by gains elsewhere. The nation's unemployment rate edged lower to 4.9% in January from December's 5%.
Economists said the latest figures showed that the state economy was sluggish at best and might be headed toward recession.
