L.A. joins California in solid jobs report

The county added 13,300 payroll jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 11.2 percent from 11.4 percent the previous month. May was also a strong month for L.A. Overall, nine of 11 industries added jobs in June, including leisure and hospitality (4,600), construction (3,700), and information, a category that includes the entertainment industry (3,000). This generally matches with the statewide gain of 38,300 jobs. Since the fall of 2009, California has added 475,300 jobs, but that's only around a third of the jobs that vanished in the recession. Also, state job growth should be tempered by the still-sluggish national growth rate. Still it's a good sign that the economy is improving, if all too slowly. Here's the EDD release. From the Sacramento Bee:

Dennis Meyers, principal economist with the state Department of Finance, said he was encouraged that job growth was seen well beyond the tech sector, which has been carrying the state for the past year or so. "The recovery is kind of broadening out," he said. Strong growth was reported in construction and the leisure and hospitality sector, he said.

But Michael Bernick, former director of the EDD who frequently writes about employment issues, warns about reading too much into these numbers:

As someone who works daily with job seekers and job placement agencies, I see a job placement process that continues to be very slow, with few job openings, and highly competitive. California companies continue to be reluctant to hire in large numbers, uncertain about the economic future. The social media/internet commerce technology sector in San Francisco is the exception, with very active job boards and openings.