State's Labor Market Lagging Nation By Don Lee, Times Staff Writer
California's job growth stalled in the last two months, sharply lagging the nation's job-creation pace and raising questions about the durability of the state's recovering labor market, according to state employment figures released today.
Hurt by declines in government and manufacturing jobs, the state's Employment Development Department reported that nonfarm employers added just 5,200 jobs in March — a fraction of what economists were looking for in light of the report last week that employers nationwide had bolstered payrolls by 308,000 last month.
California accounts for about 11% of the U.S. labor force, and some analysts were expecting the state to show 40,000 more jobs last month. Making matters worse, the state's previously reported 8,800 gain in February employment was revised to a 2,300 loss in jobs.
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