Unemployment Los Angeles County

Employers in California created a hefty 45,600 jobs last month in a burst of hiring that pushed down unemployment rates to historic lows or close to those levels in many urban centers of the state. California accounted for 20% of the jobs produced nationwide last month, nearly double the state's share of the nation's work force. The hiring, powered by strong performances from a broad spectrum of industries, was also well above the yearlong average of 30,000 monthly jobs gains.

From its storefront headquarters on a rough-and-tumble strip of Hawthorne Boulevard in Lennox, St. Margaret's Center has become another focal point of the fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Many of the working poor, largely Latino immigrants who live in the unincorporated community or in neighboring Hawthorne or Inglewood have lost their jobs or had their hours slashed in the slowdown at Los Angeles International Airport and related industries. They are turning more frequently to St.

The nation's unemployment rate climbed to 7.5% in May, reaching its highest level in nearly eight years, and California joblessness rose to 8.7% as hopeful job seekers poured back into the labor market but were unable to find work, the government reported Friday.

California's economy last month defied widespread expectations of a downturn, adding 38,000 jobs and bringing unemployment statewide and in Los Angeles County to the lowest levels in decades. The strong economic performance reported by state officials Friday cut the jobless rate sharply to 4.6% in Los Angeles County, from a revised figure of 5.3% for January. California's unemployment rate in February inched down to 4.5%, from a revised 4.6% for the previous month.

One in seven Los Angeles County residents is receiving welfare payments or benefits as a growing number of frustrated job seekers turn to the county's social safety net to weather the region's persistent recession, officials said Monday. A record 1,335,847 county residents received food stamps, general relief and other county-administered aid in December, 1991, according to the most recent study by the Department of Public Social Services. The welfare caseload has increased 51% since June, 1988.

The nation's unemployment rate climbed to 7.5% in May, reaching its highest level in nearly eight years, and California joblessness rose to 8.7% as hopeful job-seekers poured back into the labor market but were unable to find work, the government reported Friday.

Orange County's unemployment rate, continuing a trend that has turned the region into Southern California's hottest job market, narrowed to a tiny 3.1% in December. That's the lowest level of joblessness in the county since April 1990, prompting another round of bullish projections by economists. Only three other counties, all in Northern California's technology belt, had lower unemployment rates last month.

California's economy last month defied widespread expectations of a downturn, adding 38,000 jobs and bringing unemployment statewide and in Los Angeles County to the lowest levels in decades. The strong economic performance reported by state officials Friday cut the jobless rate sharply to 4.6% in Los Angeles County, from a revised figure of 5.3% for January. California's unemployment rate in February inched down to 4.5%, from a revised 4.6% for the previous month.

Los Angeles County's jobless rate fell dramatically in May, strong evidence that the county is finally participating fully in the surging economic recovery enjoyed by the rest of California, economists said. The rate sank to a seasonally adjusted 6.8% in May from 7.4% in April and 8.4% a year earlier, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.

Providing more luster to California's bright economic picture, revised figures released Friday show employers in the state added a whopping 379,300 jobs last year, 57,000 more than previously estimated. Although Los Angeles County continued to lag, the state's employment growth last year was the most since 1988.

Working at the epicenter of the Los Angeles Internet slowdown, Brenda Arechiga watched friends lose their jobs as Hollywood dot-coms went dot-bomb. But when she was called into the Venice offices of her entertainment information Web site and let go in a round of layoffs a few weeks ago, "I was just astounded," Arechiga said. "I was in a daze. I thought I was one of my CEO's key people.

Highlighting the region's comeback from economic collapse in the early 1990s, Los Angeles County's unemployment rate dropped sharply to a record low of 5% in November, state officials said Friday. The county's surprisingly big decline in joblessness, down from 5.5% in October, came despite increasing signs of a national economic slowdown. It is the county's lowest unemployment rate in at least 18 years.

Employers in California created a hefty 45,600 jobs last month in a burst of hiring that pushed down unemployment rates to historic lows or close to those levels in many urban centers of the state. California accounted for 20% of the jobs produced nationwide last month, nearly double the state's share of the nation's work force. The hiring, powered by strong performances from a broad spectrum of industries, was also well above the yearlong average of 30,000 monthly jobs gains.

A $1-million job training grant will provide retraining and other employment services to displaced workers in Carson, Lomita and Torrance, Gov. Pete Wilson said Thursday. The funds from the governor's discretionary fund, under a provision of the federal Job Training Partnership Act, will be administered by the Carson, Lomita, Torrance Private Industry Council. The job training agency will receive $20,000 to provide services through June 30.

Backed by the economy's relentless expansion, the number of working Californians reached a record high again in April as the state's jobless rate dipped to 5.9% from 6% the previous month, state officials said Friday. Local unemployment rates also edged lower in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties, the Employment Development Department said. The rate in Orange County, which is enjoying a surging job market, dropped to an exceptionally low 2.7% last month.

California's job market continued on a roll in April, as the unemployment rate fell to 6.5%, its lowest level in more than seven years. The state has now added more than 1 million jobs since the end of the recession four years ago and is on a pace to add more than 400,000 new jobs this year alone, according to Friday's report by the state Employment Development Department. "That's a big deal," said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto.