According to the latest figures out Friday, California’s unemployment rate was 12.5%…up from 12.3% in December. Despite the increase in unemployment, the state added 32,500 jobs…mostly in construction, education and health services. 

Economist Jeff Michael heads the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. He says those additional jobs are encouraging…but it’s too early to call it a rebound.

“I’d have to see numbers like this posted for a few more months before I was ready to see this as a turnaround to robust job growth in California. I think we may have a few months ahead of us before we see that.” 

In fact, Michael is predicting the state’s jobless rate will get even higher…peaking at 12.8%.

Unemployment figures for cities and counties will be released next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the national unemployment numbers also came out Friday for the month of February…and show that unemployment held steady at nine-point-seven-percent.