Unemployment rate hits 7.7% in California

SACRAMENTO » A tumbling economy and crumbling housing market sent California's jobless rate to 7.7 percent in August, the highest level since March 1996.

The U.S. West market is one of four key tourism markets for Hawaii, which has seen a steady decline in its visitor arrivals this year. Hawaii's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched up to 4.2 percent in August, a 0.3 percentage-point increase from July.

The California unemployment rate announced Thursday by the state Employment Development Department was up from a revised 7.4 percent in July, and a big jump from the 5.5 percent figure a year ago.

Behind the numbers are 1.42 million unemployed Californians, more than triple the 413,000 jobless in August 2007. The department recorded a 61,000 increase in the jobless rolls just since July.

The unemployed included 509,700 layoffs. The department found 116,800 left their jobs voluntarily. The remainder were newly looking for jobs or were unemployed because they had finished temporary jobs.

California tied with Mississippi for the nation's third highest unemployment rate, behind Michigan's 8.9 percent and Rhode Island's 8.5 percent. The national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent last month.