California lost jobs in September - The Sacramento Bee

California lost jobs in September - The Sacramento Bee: "
This story is taken from Business at sacbee.com.

California lost jobs in September
By Dale Kasler -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, October 22, 2005
California employers trimmed thousands of jobs from their payrolls in September, the first monthly decline this year, state officials said Friday.
But economists said the job loss was exaggerated by a statistical quirk involving more teachers than usual starting in August.
The unemployment rate fell a tenth of a point to 5.1 percent, creating a milestone of sorts: California's unemployment rate matched the U.S. rate for the first time since 1990. Normally unemployment is much higher in California, in part because of steady population growth.
It's not uncommon for unemployment to fall even as job payrolls shrink; sometimes disappointed job-seekers quit looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed.
Nonetheless, the payroll employment figures are considered the most reliable indicator of the job market's health, and the state Employment Development Department said payrolls shrank by 23,700 jobs in September. It was the first time this year that jobs declined.
'This report today was weak,' said Howard Roth, chief economist with the state Department of Finance.
Meanwhile, Sacramento-area unemployment fell two-tenths of a point to 4.4 percent in September, though the improvement was almost entirely seasonal. Nearly 4,000 teachers began receiving paychecks with the opening of school.
The region, covering Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties, has gained 12,600 jobs since last year, an increase of 1.5 percent. Most of the gains have been in construction, retailing and other industries tied to the region's ho"