California unemployment rate hits 12.1% as employers slash jobs

◼ State employers reduce payrolls in August for the second month in a row as they see signs of a faltering economy, pushing the jobless rate up from 12% in July. - LA Times

It's a worrisome sign for California's labor market, which has all but ground to halt. California has gained 98,500 jobs in 2011, but almost all of that hiring came early in the year. The state's employers have added just 11,000 jobs since March....

California has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, after Nevada, which saw its jobless rate rise to 13.4% from 12.9% in July. There are 2.2 million unemployed people in California, many of whom exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits months ago.