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P.O. Box 826880 ! MIC 85 ! Sacramento CA ! 94280-0001 ! www.edd.ca.gov
Contact: Loree Levy
Date: February 27, 2009
Kevin Callori
(916) 654-9029
News Release No.: 09-09
Video of Unemployment Insurance (UI) call centers and UI check operations will be available
today. Details to follow.
California’s Unemployment Rate Increases To 10.1 Percent
NOTE TO EDITORS: This release incorporates revised labor force and unemployment numbers
from 2004 to 2008. Each year, our labor force and unemployment data are updated to reflect
additional data inputs and estimation techniques. These data are produced in cooperation with the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, based on the same methodology used by all states. Because the
update of historical data uses slightly different methods than the current month estimates, users
should be cautious about comparing labor force and unemployment estimates for the current year to
those for prior years.
SACRAMENTO – California’s unemployment rate was 10.1 percent in January, and
nonfarm payroll jobs declined by 79,300 during the month, according to data released
today by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) from two separate
surveys.
The U.S. unemployment rate also increased in January to 7.6 percent.
In December, the state’s unemployment rate was a revised 8.7 percent, and in January
2008, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent. The unemployment rate is derived from a
federal survey of 5,500 California households.
The number of nonfarm jobs in California decreased by 79,300 over the month, for a total of
14,648,100, according to the survey of 42,000 California businesses which measures jobs
in the economy. This survey is larger and less variable statistically than the household
survey. The year-over-year (January 2008 to January 2009) change shows a decrease of
494,000 jobs (down 3.3 percent).
EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN CALIFORNIA
The federal survey of h