*Big jump in jobless rate

Not that you need any more evidence of the mess we've gotten ourselves into, but last month's jobless rate in L.A. County was 9.9 percent, up from a revised 8.9 percent in November and 5.2 percent just a year earlier. (Warning: The LAT story has the wrong number - I think the reporter is confusing seasonally adjusted with non-seasonally adjusted data. *It's fixed - here's the story.) The state was at 9.3 percent, from 8.4 percent in November. The separate payroll survey shows a loss of 12,400 L.A. jobs between November and December (the volatile showbiz sector posted a drop of 4,600 jobs, though there was a year-over-year gain of almost 9,000). Among other sector changes between November and December:

•Manufacturing, down 2,900 jobs.
•Construction, down 2,000.
•Educational and health services, down 1,300.
•Leisure and hospitality, down 1,200.
•Government, down 1,000.

Retail was actually up from November (department stores need extra holiday help, even in bad times), while trade, transportation, and utilities accounted for the largest month-over employment gains, up 1,900. But overall, it’s a pretty bleak report, though not especially surprising. I mean, we’re in a terrible recession and this seems to be the worst stretch. What would you expect? Here’s the EDD release.