Unemployment in California reaches 70-year high [View All]

[Hannah Bell]

Official unemployment in California, the most populous state in the US, has reached a new historical milestone. At 12.2 percent in August, it is now at the highest level since 1940. It has risen 4.6 percentage points over the course of the last year alone.

The recently released unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal the social reality that lies behind official claims of an end to the economic downturn. Just last week, speaking before an audience at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke claimed that the recession is “very likely over.” For workers throughout the country, however, the crisis is intensifying.

As high as it is, the statistic fails to capture the true gravity of the jobs situation in California. The 2.5 million people represented in the August figure do not include those who are out of work but have given up looking for a job, or those who are involuntarily working part-time. By some estimates, when calculated together, the unemployment and underemployment rate in California stands at 23 percent—nearly a quarter of the population.

Even this number, however, does not take into account the thousands of undocumented immigrants out of work in the state. Many immigrants are employed in the construction industry, which has been extremely hard hit by the downturn. Thus, the economic crisis in California affects workers in Mexico and Central and South America, as millions of families are dependent on remittances from relatives.

...the unemployment rate in California has a special historical significance. Known as the “Golden State,” California was once a symbol of post-war prosperity in the US...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/pers-s21.shtml