California's unemployment rate fell to an almost three-year low of 11.1 percent in December, and analysts said a gradual economic recovery appears to be taking hold that will bring the rate down further in small steps. December marked the fourth straight month of declines. The jobless rate in November was 11.3 percent.
"The trend is down now," said Howard Roth, chief economist of California's the state's Department of Finance. "At least now we're going in the right direction." Roth said the jobless rate is dropping faster than his department expected, which may help the outlook for California's budget.
Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a budget plan earlier this month that projected a $9.2 billion deficit set against an uneven economic recovery and a state unemployment rate averaging 12 percent this year. The state's Employment Development Department reported an increase of 10,700 nonfarm jobs in December. It revised its figure on nonfarm job gains for November to 24,700, compared with an initially reported 6,600. The department said nonfarm payrolls were up by 240,300 over December 2010, when California's jobless rate was 12.5 percent. Even with the improvements, California's December unemployment rate remained well above the national average of 8.5 percent. California lost more than 1 million jobs during the recession.
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