California unemployment dips to 10.9 percent UNEMPLOYMENT

PASADENA, CA - FEBRUARY 03: George Hernandez looks at job openings at the Foothill Employment and Training Connection on February 3, 2012 in Pasadena, California. According to report from the Labor Department US economy added 243,000 jobs in January dropping the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) less PASADENA, CA - FEBRUARY 03: George Hernandez looks at job openings at the Foothill Employment and Training Connection on February 3, 2012 in Pasadena, California. According to report from the Labor Department ... more Photo: Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images Photo: Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close California unemployment dips to 10.9 percent 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

California's unemployment rate dipped slightly in April to 10.9 percent, the state said Friday. The nation's unemployment rate also fell, to 8.1 percent.

The state's jobless rate had dropped below 11 percent during the first two months of the year, but bounced back up to 11 percent in March.

"A lower rate is always good news, but it just gets us back down where we were in January, February," said Dennis Meyers, an economist for the state Department of Finance. "I think it's kind of symptomatic of this kind of low boil we're on."

Last month, employers in California added more than 19,000 jobs in four categories - mining and logging, trade, transportation and utilities, and professional and business services.

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The figures also showed that the subcategory of professional, scientific and technical services jobs has regained all the high-wage, high-tech jobs lost in the recession.

However, nonfarm payroll jobs decreased by 4,200 in April, breaking a string of eight consecutive monthly gains, said Kevin Callori, a spokesman for the state Economic Development Department.

Seven sectors lost a combined 23,300 jobs in April, including construction, manufacturing, information, financial activities, educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government. Construction was the biggest loser, down 6,700 jobs from March.

Michael Bernick, a former director of the Economic Development Department who is now a fellow at the Milken Institute, said the decline in the unemployment rate was due to the drop in the number of Californians who are seeking to be part of the labor force.

More than 2 million Californians are still out of work.

California's unemployment rate trailed only neighboring Nevada, which has the nation's highest rate at 11.7 percent, and Rhode Island (11.2 percent).

In many states, unemployment has fallen well below the national average. The rate was below 7 percent in 22 states in April. That compares with only 13 states in April 2011.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped in 37 states in April, the most in three months. Unemployment rose in five states and was unchanged in eight.

Nationally, the unemployment rate has fallen a full percentage point since August. Employers have added a million jobs over the past five months, though the pace of hiring slowed in March and April.

The states with the lowest unemployment continue to be in the upper Midwest with small populations. North Dakota's rate was 3 percent in April, the lowest in the country. It was followed by Nebraska at 3.9 percent and South Dakota at 4.3 percent.