ADVISORY/Extended Unemployment in California.

Business Editors

ADVISORY...for Friday (Feb. 21)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

TO:    Business and economics writers/editors

WHAT:  Extended Unemployment in California
       California's labor market has not shown much sign of recovery
       from the recession that began in 2001. As in the rest of the
       nation, employment has remained flat to down, the unemployment
       rate has remained at elevated levels, and the jobless are
       facing increasingly lengthy spells of unemployment.

       In this Economic Letter, economist Rob Valletta uses data from
       the monthly national household survey to assess the depth of
       California's state and regional unemployment problem and the
       extent to which the Unemployment Insurance (UI) extension
       addresses it.

WHO:   Rob Valletta, Economist
       Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

WHEN:  Available on the Internet -  Friday, February 21, 2003 at
       9:00 AM PST:
       www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2003/el2003-05.html

WHY:   To address the national unemployment problem, the federal
       government recently renewed legislation that provides extra
       weeks of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits to unemployed
       workers who have exhausted their regular UI benefits.  The
       impact of this legislation will vary not only across states,
       but also across regions within large states, according to their
       unemployment rates, and the duration of unemployment spells.

       Business reporters researching California unemployment issues
       and seeking neutral, third-party input to bring perspective to
       their stories may wish to contact Economist Rob Valletta
       directly at 415/974-3345 or [e-mail].