First-time Calif. unemployment claims drop 9.5% – Handling Hard Times : The Orange County Register

California employers may be slow in adding jobs, but layoffs have declined

substantially based on first-time claims for unemployment.Average weekly initial unemployment claims in the state rose to 61,851 in June from the 56,704 in May, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

But for the first six months of the year, average weekly first-time filings were down 9.5% from the same period in 2011. (Averaging helps even out the weekly changes which can fluctuate widely.)

Newly unemployed California workers filed an average 60,944 initial claims a week in the first half of this year compared to 67,321 in 2011.

The decline was even more dramatic compared to 2010 — down 22%.  Unemployment claims peaked in 2010…

via First-time Calif. unemployment claims drop 9.5% – Handling Hard Times : The Orange County Register.

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