California unemployment rate dips to 10.6 percent

WASHINGTON (KABC) -- California's unemployment rate fell slightly in August to 10.6 percent, down from 10.7 percent.

The numbers, reported by the Employment Development Department on Friday, show an improvement over the state's 11.9 percent unemployment rate from a year ago.

California added 12,000 non-farm payroll jobs in August. The state has added nearly 300,000 new jobs over the past year with job growth in 12 of the past 13 months.

The sectors that grew in August include construction, manufacturing, financial activities and hospitality. The biggest gains were seen in the educational and health services sector, which added 8,900 jobs.

The industries that lost jobs include mining and logging and transportation. The biggest losses are in the government sector, which shrunk by 7,400 jobs.

The number of people unemployed in California fell by 27,000 in August to 1,935,000. But that was in part due to people giving up on active job searches. The total labor force shrunk by about 66,000 people. It's predicted that California job growth would pick up slowly in the coming year with the unemployment rate dropping to 8.5 percent in 2014.

The national unemployment rate in August was 8.1 percent. California's jobless rate remains the third-highest in the nation, behind Nevada and Rhode Island. The Labor Department said unemployment rates increased in 26 states, fell in 12 and remained unchanged in the other 12.

Nationwide, employers added only 96,000 jobs in August, below July's gain of 141,000 and the average of 226,000 jobs a month added in the January-March quarter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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