by Calculated Risk on 4/18/2008 03:37:00 PM

From the LA Times: California unemployment hits 6.2%; worse than Ohio, Pennsylvania

California's unemployment rate rose by a whopping half a percentage point in March, reaching 6.2% as a weakening economy shed jobs in the ailing construction and financial activities sectors. In all, 1.13 million were unemployed.
...
California is doing worse than Pennsylvania and Ohio ... the two Rust Belt states that have figured prominently in the presidential primary elections because of their lost manufacturing jobs.

And on the Inland Empire, it was almost two years ago I wrote Housing: Inverted Reasoning?

As the housing bubble unwinds, housing related employment will fall; and fall dramatically in areas like the Inland Empire. The more an area is dependent on housing, the larger the negative impact on the local economy will be.

That seemed obvious to most of us! And now from the LA Times on unemployment in the Inland Empire:

The rise in unemployment during March affected all of Southern California, with the worst effects in the Inland Empire. The rate in Riverside County -- not seasonally adjusted -- rose to 7.4% from 7.0%, while in San Bernardino County it rose to 6.7% from 6.3%.