Why is California’s unemployment rate higher than the rest of the country? Look Inland, according to a new analysis from Sacramento.

An economist and a senior staff member with the state Legislative Analyst’s Office issued a report saying the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County are major factors in why the Golden State’s jobless rate exceeds the national average. Their analysis appeared Monday on the office’s website.

Inland leaders said they weren’t surprised by the findings. They said the local economy needs attention from Sacramento, and one assemblywoman hopes it rallies the Inland delegation to take action.

The analyst’s office conducts nonpartisan reviews of the state budget and the financial effects of bills in the Legislature. It also looks at the fiscal impact of ballot measures.

In their analysis, economist Justin Garosi and Chief Deputy Legislative Analyst Jason Sisney found that California counties with high concentrations of farm jobs tend to have higher unemployment numbers. But those counties “are not primarily responsible for the state’s relatively high unemployment rate relative to the rest of the country.”

“Instead, it appears that persistent weakness in parts of Southern California — specifically, Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) — is a bigger driver of California’s relatively high unemployment rates,” the analysis said.

Sisney said the analysis serves as a backgrounder of sorts on the economy. The analysis came about, he said, after members of the public asked if farm-dependent counties were to blame for the state’s higher-than-average unemployment rate when the latest unemployment numbers came out.

While Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties’ rates might be lower than smaller, more rural counties, they had a bigger influence on the overall state rate because of their size, Sisney said. The three counties’ combined labor force made up 36 percent of California’s workforce, the analysis said.

The Inland area’s unemployment rate has long been higher than the rest of the state and nation.

California’s unemployment rate in December stood at 7 percent, compared to 5.6 percent for the whole nation, the report read. The Inland rate was 7.2 percent in December, its lowest mark since June 2008.

In 2010, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties had a combined unemployment rate of 10 percent, compared to 8.9 percent statewide, according to the analysis.

The Inland economy has trailed the rest of the state in recovering from the Great Recession of late 2007 to the middle of 2009. The housing market collapse hit the Inland Empire especially hard.

The construction industry, long an Inland economic staple, took a major hit. Thousands lost their jobs and the region became a national poster child for the home foreclosure crisis.

Riverside County’s government lost more than $200 million in revenue during the recession. Property tax revenue is starting to bounce back as home sales rebound.

But while the state’s economy is recovering, “It’s not happening evenly,” Sisney said. For example, the Bay Area is bouncing back more quickly than inland parts of the state.

The analysis “just reinforces what many of us have been saying since the Great Recession, that all regions of California are not doing the same,” said Paul Granillo, president and CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.

“We have to strike a balance between regulation and job creation and if we don’t do that, then regions like the Inland Empire and parts of Los Angeles, those regions are going to suffer because the jobs aren’t there,” he said.

The Inland region also suffers from an education gap, with a lower percentage of residents holding a bachelor’s degree, Granillo said.

If Sacramento is serious about cutting Inland unemployment, there needs to be a “doubling down” on workforce education, especially in robotics and computers, so an advanced manufacturing cluster can complement the existing logistics industry, Granillo said.

Despite lagging behind its coastal neighbors, the Inland area continues to be projected for future growth as people move east in search of cheaper homes.

The Inland region gained 32,000 jobs in 2014, according to Inland economist John Husing. Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley said the region has been adding jobs at a faster rate than other parts of California, especially in logistics and construction.

“The problem is, we were behind when we started,” Ashley said.

The analysis can be a rallying point for the Inland delegation in Sacramento, said Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore.

“Sacramento has been picking winners and losers for some time now. I’m not suggesting I oppose some tax relief for industries. But I’d like to see some exceptions applied a little more broadly,” she said.

“We’ve got a lot people in the Inland Empire delegation that once they see this they’ll say ‘This is on my watch. … Let’s fix this,’” she said.