SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s unemployment rate soared to 15.5% in April. Kern County’s climbed to 18.6%The nation’s most populous state lost 2.3 million jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic that shuttered most businesses. The unemployment rate increased 10.2 percentage points since March. It’s the largest one month increase since 1976 when the state began using its current formula to measure job losses. And it’s higher than the 12.5% unemployment rate the state reached during the Great Recession a decade ago. The numbers reflect survey results from the week of April 12. The numbers are are likely far higher now.
From the California EDD
| The unemployment rate in Kern County was 18.6 percent in April 2020, up from a revised 12.1 percent in March 2020, and above the year-ago estimate of 8.2 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 16.1 percent for California and 14.4 percent for the nation during the same period. |
