California adds jobs in June

Employers in California added 28,800 jobs to payrolls in June, a surprisingly positive number amid a weak labor market nationally. The state’s unemployment rate rose slightly, to 11.8%, from 11.7% the month before, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday morning.

Click for a state-by-state map of unemployment rates California had lost 29,200 jobs in May, due in part to manufacturing sluggishness from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The addition of jobs this month, though a surprise, is one more sign of the fickle nature of this economic recovery, economists say. L.A. TIMES