By Julie Chen

Senior Staff Writer

Although claiming that substantial government spending programs have already created or saved 640,239 jobs, Obama signed legislation early in November to provide additional aid for unemployed workers.  The legislation also expands and extends tax credits for homebuyers.

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By Dmitry Shuster

Staff Writer

It was 5.3% in December 2007 and 8.4% in November 2008. Now California’s unemployment rate is at an astonishing 9.3%. In the past year, the largest state in the United States lost roughly 257,400 jobs, which amounts to 1.7% of the workforce. The unemployment rate for the world’s tenth largest economy (if California were a separate nation) has not been near such levels since January 2004, when the state was emerging from its last recession. In the last month of 2008, California lost 78,200 jobs as employers sliced payrolls to reduce costs in the contracting economy. The current recession for the state, and the national economy as a whole, only seems to be deepening.

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