California's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in December, unchanged from November, and down 1.4 percentage points from 1 year ago. In comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in December, unchanged from November, and down 0.7 percentage point from 1 year ago.

In California there were 14,398,800 jobs in total nonfarm industries in December, a loss of 17,500 jobs from last month. This followed a revised 6,100-job gain in November and a 38,800-job gain in October.

Within nonfarm industries, 3 sectors saw month-over job gains; 8 sectors saw a month-over job decline. The sectors with increased employment in December were:

     Educational and health services (9,200)
     Constrution (4,100)
     Information (3,500)


Sectors that lost jobs in December were:

     Trade, transportation, and utilities (11,200)
     Professional and business services (8,800)
     Other services (5,300)
     Leisure and hospitality (3,800)
     Manufacturing (2,600)
     Government (1,800)
     Financial activities (700)
     Mining and logging (100)


The lowest unemployment rate among California counties in December was 5.5 percent in Marin. Three other counties had rates below 7.0 percent in December: San Mateo (6.0 percent), San Francisco (6.5 percent) and Orange (6.8 percent). The highest unemployment rate in December was 25.5 percent in Imperial County. The comparable, not seasonally adjusted California rate was 9.7 percent in December.

View the unemployment rates by county for December 2012 online. (Requires Acrobat Reader).

The next monthly data release will be March 8, 2013..

View the current month's press releases and data tables by geography online. This page also has links to historical data.

The Labor Market Information Division released the 2010-2020 local area industry and occupational employment projections for the following areas:

	•	Bakersfield MSA (Kern County)
	•	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine MD (Orange County)
	•	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos MSA (San Diego County)

In addition to a variety of data tables such as the fastest and largest growing occupations, projections Highlights provides a descriptive industry and occupational narrative of the employment changes, and includes a new table displaying growing occupations by education level.

Locate the Projections of Employment link on the Labor Market Info website at www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov.

STEMconnector is an online resource that provides organizations and corporations with tools and resources to assist them in making smart Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) investments. As a "one-stop shop" for STEM education, STEMconnector offers a variety of resources to assist organizations with current information on STEM best business practices, reports on each state's K-12 STEM educational accomplishments, and daily electronic newsletters that compile various news articles related to STEM education. On January 30, 2013, STEMconnector will release a research report addressing where STEM students are located, where their career interests lie, and what these students can expect from the job market when they are ready to enter the workforce. Public and private organizations may find STEMconnector.org a valuable website that provides useful information from highly regarded individuals within the STEM community.

Women now account for almost 50 percent of the national labor force, according to the July 2012 Department of Labor (DOL) report, Women in the Workforce. The study outlines the DOL's efforts to improve working conditions and increase employment opportunities for women and their families. The report includes topics such as:

	•	Protecting Women in the Workforce
	•	Keeping Women Workers Safe at the Worksite
	•	Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections for In-Home Care Workers
	•	Work-life Balance and Workplace Flexibility
	•	Employment and Training Services for Women
	•	Training Women for Jobs in a Clean Energy Economy
	•	Increasing Women's Retirement Security
	•	Supporting Women Veterans and Their Families

As part of its objective to ensure that women secure good jobs in a competitive global economy, the DOL's Pathways Out of Poverty initiative focuses on the recruitment of women in industries in which they have traditionally been under-represented, including construction, energy, and transportation. In a related effort, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently convened the Women in Transportation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Region Forum to bring together key organizations dedicated to strengthening the role of women in the transportation sector and to design programs committed to the attraction, retention, and professional advancement of women. Learn more about the U.S. Department of Transportation's Resources for Women and Girls at www.dot.gov/women-and-girls.

Nationwide online job advertisements increased in December compared to November levels. California had an increase of 23,700 job advertisements from November to December 2012. Nationally, the supply and demand rate was three-to-one compared to four-to-one in California. The supply and demand rate is defined as the number of unemployed individuals for every job advertisement. A lower supply and demand rate indicates that there are a fewer number of unemployed workers for every online advertisement. The supply and demand rates varied between the California regions with most regions having a higher rate than the nation. The Bay Area was the only region that had a lower supply and demand rate than the nation.

Most of the regions in California saw an increase in job advertisements from November 2012 to December 2012.

For more regional and statewide data, view this month's publication in the Economy section of the Labor Market Info website.

The Labor Market Information Division (LMID) recently updated and published the following Occupational Guides:

•

Cargo and Freight Agents

Locate the updated guides by accessing the California Occupational Guides link under the "Featured LMI Publications" section on the LaborMarketInfo website at www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov.