Jobless rates in California range from 8.1% to 27.7%

Everybody speaks of a single "California economy," but it's really many economies with various levels of success and failure. The Santa Barbara metro area had the lowest unemployment rate in May, at 8.1 percent, while El Centro had the highest, at 27.7 percent. Actually, El Centro tied with Yuma, Ariz. as having the highest rate in the nation. The lowest unemployment rate was in Bismarck, North Dakota, at 2.9 percent. The numbers below are for metropolitan areas; county figures are a bit different. From the BLS release:

Bakersfield-Delano....................15.0
Chico.................................12.9
El Centro.............................27.7
Fresno................................16.0
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana......11.1
Merced................................17.8
Modesto...............................16.7
Napa..................................8.7
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura..........9.5
Redding...............................14.7
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario......13.2
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville.....11.7
Salinas...............................10.9
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos.........9.6
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont.........9.3
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara........9.9
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles...........9.0
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta......8.1
Santa Cruz-Watsonville................11.4
Santa Rosa-Petaluma...................9.4
Stockton..............................16.2
Yuba City............................. 19.0