Local unemployment rates continue to fall, slowly

Local unemployment rates continued to fall in November as professional and business service sectors started to recover, state economic development officials reported Friday.

The unemployment rate in Glendale slid to 10.6% last month, down from 11% in October. In Burbank, the jobless rate fell to 9.9% from 10.3% over the same period, according to the California Economic Development Department.

In the La Crescenta-Montrose region, the unemployment rate fall from 5.8% in October to 5.6% last month. In La Cañada-Flintridge, the rate fell slightly by 0.2% to 4.5%.

The total number of those unemployed in the region was roughly 18,200 in November, according to the report.

While the rates remain relatively high, they represented the third consecutive month-to-month decline as businesses continued slowed their job shedding. In Los Angeles County, professional and business services added 2,700 jobs, while the retail sector accounted for about 5,300 new hires, according to the Economic Development Department.

The unemployment rate for L.A. County fell to 12.4% last month from 12.7% in October. The state jobless rate in November was 12.3%.