According to the new numbers from California's Employment Development Department, the jobless rate was 12 percent last month - up from 11-point-eight percent in June. The state only gained about 45-hundred jobs. Esmael Adibi is an economist with Chapman University. He says all levels of government are dragging job creation down - and the volatile stock market hurts both business and consumer confidence:
Adibi: "When we get the report for the month of august, I'm worried we might even see some job losses, because the fear of recession is really growing."
And Adibi says the likelihood of a "double dip" recession is
indeed increasing. However, he points out that there was a
bright spot in the jobs report: The hard-hit construction
industry is showing improvement.