10%

News of economic woes has fallen on California a lot lately, and given the budget crisis and a particularly bubbly real estate market and tech industry—it seems California will be leading the way down this economic sink hole.

For May, the jobless rate here cracked the 10% barrier, 11.5% actually. It leads the rest of the nation now at 9.4% and rising. Maybe there is some cause for optimism from the rebound of the stock market, but to my mind there are no real signs of improved employment opportunities and a lot of government jobs in jeopardy come July.

With the Alt-A resets only starting, and the middle- to upper-end housing market cracking at the seams, there is plenty of room still to fall, and years before a turnaround can be expected.