California Employment Development Department

  Thousands of San Francisco workers are starting the new year with a raise. On Jan. 1 the city's minimum wage will rise to $10.24 an hour. That's the highest rate in the country and makes San Francisco the first place in the U.S. to mandate double-digit hourly wages for its lowest-paid workers. For Ace Wiseman, 27, a recent graduate of San Francisco State University who cleans tables for minimum wage in a Sunset District pizzeria, the raise from $9.92 an hour will buy a few more groceries.

California's labor market continued its slow improvement in March as employers added jobs for the eighth straight month. Payrolls grew by 18,200 jobs last month, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. That's on top of a revised gain of 38,600 jobs in February. The unemployment rate increased to 11% in March, up slightly from February's 10.9% rate. Improved employment prospects have encouraged more idled California workers to start job hunting again, driving the unemployment rate higher, said Dennis Meyers, principal economist for the state's Department of Finance.

The Oxnard Job Service Office of the California Employment Development Department (EDD) has reopened after the tragic shooting incident on Dec. 2, in which five persons, including the gunman, were killed and another four wounded. The employees of EDD have expressed to me their appreciation for the kindness and caring that local citizens and organizations have extended to our staff. Your consideration has helped us to cope with a traumatic situation and its aftermath. Please be assured that the safety of our employees and all EDD customers is foremost in our concern, and the department is taking steps to provide a safe environment for all who make use of EDD facilities.

California's labor market continued its slow improvement in March as employers added jobs for the eighth straight month. Payrolls grew by 18,200 jobs last month, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. That's on top of a revised 38,600 jobs in February. The unemployment rate increased to 11% in March, up slightly from February's 10.9% rate. Still, improving job prospects have encouraged more California workers to reenter the labor force, driving the jobless rate higher, said Dennis Meyers, principal economist for the state's Department of Finance.

California's unemployment rate fell to 11.1% in December from 11.3% in November, marking five straight months of declines. Last month, the state gained about 10,700 new payroll jobs, the California Employment Development Department said Friday. At the same time, an earlier tally of 6,600 new jobs created in November was revised upward dramatically to 24,700. In all, the Golden State created 240,300 new jobs in 2011. The new numbers suggest that California's economy is gaining traction as it steadily replaces more of the 1.3 million jobs lost in the 2007-2009 recession.

California's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.9% in February even as the state added thousands of new jobs. The percentage of jobless workers held the same as January, though it was down from 12.0% in February last year. The rate remained the same even as the state added 4,000 total jobs in February, according to the California Employment Development Department. The state has gained a total of 333,100 jobs since the recovery began in September 2009. The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 8.3%.

California's labor market continued its slow improvement in March as employers added jobs for the eighth straight month. Payrolls grew by 18,200 jobs last month, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. That's on top of a revised 38,600 jobs in February. The unemployment rate increased to 11% in March, up slightly from February's 10.9% rate. Still, improving job prospects have encouraged more California workers to reenter the labor force, driving the jobless rate higher, said Dennis Meyers, principal economist for the state's Department of Finance.

The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to approve a $1.4-billion stopgap extension of jobless benefits, but some states are beginning to seek longer-term solutions to an unemployment problem that is expected to worsen heading into next year. The extension, covering an additional 13 weeks, would maintain payments for more than 1 million workers in 29 hard-hit states whose benefits are set to expire before the end of 2009. Unemployment payments for more than 300,000 U.S. workers will end this month alone.

California is adding more high-paying jobs in affluent coastal areas, but the government and construction sectors remain big drags on the economy as communities inland continue to struggle. Employers added 4,000 payroll jobs in February, signaling slow but steady improvement in the labor market, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. Despite the gains, however, the state's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.9% as more workers dusted off their resumes to look for employment.

California's labor market continued its slow improvement in March as employers added jobs for the eighth straight month. Payrolls grew by 18,200 jobs last month, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. That's on top of a revised gain of 38,600 jobs in February. The unemployment rate increased to 11% in March, up slightly from February's 10.9% rate. Improved employment prospects have encouraged more idled California workers to start job hunting again, driving the unemployment rate higher, said Dennis Meyers, principal economist for the state's Department of Finance.

California is adding more high-paying jobs in affluent coastal areas, but the government and construction sectors remain big drags on the economy as communities inland continue to struggle. Employers added 4,000 payroll jobs in February, signaling slow but steady improvement in the labor market, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department. Despite the gains, however, the state's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.9% as more workers dusted off their resumes to look for employment.

California's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.9% in February even as the state added thousands of new jobs. The percentage of jobless workers held the same as January, though it was down from 12.0% in February last year. The rate remained the same even as the state added 4,000 total jobs in February, according to the California Employment Development Department. The state has gained a total of 333,100 jobs since the recovery began in September 2009. The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 8.3%.

California's unemployment rate fell to 11.1% in December from 11.3% in November, marking five straight months of declines. Last month, the state gained about 10,700 new payroll jobs, the California Employment Development Department said Friday. At the same time, an earlier tally of 6,600 new jobs created in November was revised upward dramatically to 24,700. In all, the Golden State created 240,300 new jobs in 2011. The new numbers suggest that California's economy is gaining traction as it steadily replaces more of the 1.3 million jobs lost in the 2007-2009 recession.

  Thousands of San Francisco workers are starting the new year with a raise. On Jan. 1 the city's minimum wage will rise to $10.24 an hour. That's the highest rate in the country and makes San Francisco the first place in the U.S. to mandate double-digit hourly wages for its lowest-paid workers. For Ace Wiseman, 27, a recent graduate of San Francisco State University who cleans tables for minimum wage in a Sunset District pizzeria, the raise from $9.92 an hour will buy a few more groceries.

Venture capitalists are quietly reasserting themselves in what is one of the few bright spots for the California economy. Venture capital investment reached almost $4 billon in California during the second quarter of this year, a 51% gain from the same period last year and the most since the third quarter of 2008. The number of companies they are funding also rose — up more than 8% to 296 compared with a year earlier, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, which collected the data.

California's labor market stagnated in June as temporary federal census workers lost their jobs and about 400,000 out-of-work people exhausted their unemployment benefits. Although the monthly, seasonably adjusted unemployment rate crept down a tenth of a percentage point to 12.3%, the economy lost 27,600 jobs, according to the California Employment Development Department. The state's unemployment rate was 11.6% in June 2009. Nationally, it hit 9.5% last month. Analysts were not encouraged by the decline in the unemployment rate.

Venture capitalists are quietly reasserting themselves in what is one of the few bright spots for the California economy. Venture capital investment reached almost $4 billon in California during the second quarter of this year, a 51% gain from the same period last year and the most since the third quarter of 2008. The number of companies they are funding also rose — up more than 8% to 296 compared with a year earlier, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, which collected the data.

If office hiring is an indication, California's economy may turn out just fine in 1986. According to a recent survey, 28% of California businesses anticipate increasing their office staff during the first six months of this year while 66% expect employment levels to remain the same and just 6% project a decrease. The survey was commissioned by Thomas Services Inc., an Irvine-based temporary help service. A total of 1,543 companies were polled by the Marketing Consortium Inc.

The Obama administration has asked California to explain how furloughs for state workers are affecting the state's ability to meet an escalating demand for unemployment insurance benefits and services to millions of jobless people. A regional administrator at the Labor Department this week wrote to the director of the California Employment Development Department, asking him to demonstrate that no decline in the federally financed unemployment insurance program "will occur as the result of this statewide action."

The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to approve a $1.4-billion stopgap extension of jobless benefits, but some states are beginning to seek longer-term solutions to an unemployment problem that is expected to worsen heading into next year. The extension, covering an additional 13 weeks, would maintain payments for more than 1 million workers in 29 hard-hit states whose benefits are set to expire before the end of 2009. Unemployment payments for more than 300,000 U.S. workers will end this month alone.