California Added Most New Jobs in Country in July

California led the country in the number of new jobs added in July, according to a report published Friday by Matthew DeBord for Southern California Public Radio (SCPR).

According to DeBord, California added 25,200 new jobs in July - which accounts for a whopping 15 percent of all jobs added across the country last month, which totaled 163,000.

However, the irony is, California still leads the country in unemployment, as well, he said.

"This was a slightly less-good performance than June, but it continues a trend of California adding jobs at a faster clip than the nation as a whole," DeBord wrote.

According to a report last week from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, in July, 44 states reported unemployment increases, two states and the District of Columbia reported unemployment decreases, and four states reported no change.

DeBord compared those figures to a year earlier, when 44 states and the District of Columbia reported decreases in the unemployment rate, four states reported increases, and two states reported no change.

Regionally, the West Coast reported the highest unemployment rate - 9.4 percent - while the Midwest reported the lowest rate, 7.5 percent.

"The slow, agonizing slog out of the jobs crisis in California continues. At this rate, we're unlikely to equal even the national unemployment rate for another year," DeBord speculated.

Locally, unemployment in San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin counties also dipped, from 8.6 percent in July of 2011 to 7.3 percent last month, according to an article in The San Francisco Business Times. Total employment for all industries in the three counties was nearly a million in July, at 982,000, according to newly released data from the Employment Development Department.

The data also indicates that private-sector jobs rose by 3,200 from June to July, whereas, in past years, the number has usually fallen by at least 1,200. Most of the jobs were in computer systems design, science, technical services and professional services, the Business Times pointed out.

Retail jobs also rose by 1,700 - much higher than in the previous 10 years, when the most new retail jobs created was 100 in a given year.

"The state's economy is moving in the right direction, however, and once it gets moving — really moving — it could pick up speed," DeBrod speculated.

Government jobs were the one area that dipped significantly from June to July, the Business Times reported. Across the three counties, government jobs shrank by 5,200, down to 130,800.