California Business Minute™

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Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

The state Employment Development Department released employment figures for December. 
Unemployment rose from 5.6 percent in November to 6.1 percent for December. A year ago,
in December 2006, California’s estimated unemployment rate was 4.8 percent.

California’s unemployment rate began to rise in October; it remained unchanged in November
and has risen again in December.

Of interest, eight counties had unemployment rates that were lower than the U.S. average of 5.0
percent; Alameda, Marin, Orange, San Diego, San Francisco, San Louis Obispo, San Mateo,
Sonoma. However on the opposite side of the unemployment picture 13 counties have double
digit unemployment; Colusa, Imperial, Kings, Merced, Monterrey, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou,
Stanislaus, Sutter, Trinity, Tulare and Yuba and Glenn and Fresno counties reported  unemployment
rates of 9.9 percent.

Marin County had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.9 up from November   followed closely by San
Mateo County at 4.0 percent.  Imperial County and Colusa County had the highest at 17.9 percent.
Imperial County’s unemployment rate dropped from a high of 19.9 percent from November.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.