California's unemployment rate was stalled at 12.6 percent in April even though the state added jobs, the state announced today.
The state did add 14,200 jobs in April. That means California payrolls have grown by a total of 56,000 jobs this year.
But the state is clearly lagging the U.S. recovery, which produced 290,000 jobs nationwide last month. In California, "the job growth is modest," said Michael Bernick, a labor lawyer and analyst in San Francisco. "There are other states with smaller economies who are creating more jobs."
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said California's rate was the third highest in the nation, behind Michigan (14 percent) and Nevada (13.7 percent).
Sacramento's unemployment rate in April fell to 12.4 percent, down from 13.1 percent a month earlier. However, the region actually lost 200 jobs during the month, largely the result of unexpected losses in farm employment, said Alex Alvarado of the state Employment Development Department.
The wet April weather delayed farm hiring across the region, said Russell van Loben Sels, a Courtland pear grower and president of the Sacramento County Farm Bureau.
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