Unemployment in California dropped to eight percent in February, as the state’s jobless rate continued its steady decline.
That number was virtually unchanged from January, when the state’s unemployment rate was 8.1 percent, but it did represent a significant year-to-year drop: unemployment in California was 9.4 percent in February 2013, according to a report released today by the state Employment Development Department.
California remained behind the national unemployment rate, which rose to 6.7 percent last month. It added 58,800 non-farm payroll jobs last month and has added more than 1.2 million jobs since the recovery began four years ago, according to the report.
California’s unemployment rate is based on a federal survey of 5,500 households.