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Report: 'Underemployed' Calif. Jobless Rate May Top 22 Percent

SACRAMENTO (CBS) — California' jobless rate may have stabilized in September, but a CBS "60 Minutes" report says new unemployment data paints a much gloomier picture of the job market.

Unemployment Benefits: The 99ers by CBS News on YouTube

The jobless rate continues to top that of the rest of the U.S. at 9.6 percent, a number that in itself is near historic highs, but pales considerably once factors such as underemployment -- those who have part-time work but not enough to meet their financial responsibilities -- as well as those candidates in the job market who have simply given up looking for work in the face of steep competition for positions they would have never considered under different circumstances.

Jeff Michael, an analyst for the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, says September's data, released last week by the state Employment Development
Department, may be a precursor of what's to come in the weeks ahead.

"It's moving sideways," said Michael, whose center's quarterly forecast predicted last week that California's unemployment rate would remain above 10 percent for three more years. "It's a sign of the fact that this recovery isn't gaining any traction at all."


(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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