UNEMPLOYMENT HITS RECORD LOW CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY PAYROLLS GROW.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

Unemployment sank to record low levels across California and in Los Angeles County during October, the state said Friday.

Statewide the unemployment rate slipped to 4.5 percent last month from 4.8 percent in September and 5.2 percent a year ago as the economy added 9,300 payroll jobs, according to the state Employment Development Department.

The surge was led by gains in the professional and business services sector, which includes jobs in computer services, management, law and finance. Growth was flat in other sectors.

In Los Angeles County the jobless rate fell to 4.3 percent last month from 4.8 percent in September and 5.0 percent a year ago.

That drop came in response to a gain of 17,400 jobs in the past month, including 11,400 government positions and 5,600 education and health services jobs. Construction dropped 1,700 jobs since September.

Compared with a year ago, total nonfarm jobs swelled by 35,600 in the county, but 3,900 manufacturing jobs were lost.

Steven Levy, an economist with the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, said the October payroll job gains were mediocre.

``We have one good month and one mediocre month,'' Levy said. ``The good news is the business and professional jobs, which are the nice high-wage jobs, continue to grow.''

Levy said the record figure was mostly a result of a decline in people trying to find work rather than a booming economy.

``There's a difference between having a record low unemployment rate when labor force growth is high and job growth is high, and having it now, when it seems to be coming about because people have stopped entering the labor force and you have job growth declining,'' he said.

Job growth is declining as the construction sector now sheds jobs after pumping up payrolls during the housing boom, Levy said.

The number of Californians looking for work in October fell to 794,000, a decrease of 64,000 from September. About 239,300 of the job seekers had been laid off, the state said.

In October of last year, nearly 930,000 people were looking for work.

The state also revised September payroll job gains to 17,900, an increase of 600 jobs from the previously reported total.

Nationally, payrolls grew by 92,000 jobs in October, less than some economists had expected. In all, about 15 million people held payroll jobs in California in October.

A separate household survey suggested that an additional 2 million people were employed in some fashion last month. Payroll employment totals are drawn from a survey of employers and don't include farm workers and the self-employed.

The government sector shed 2,000 jobs during October, the biggest slice of the 6,900 jobs lost in the month. The manufacturing, construction and information sectors also lost jobs.

Over the 12-month period ending in October, the state economy added a total of 163,800 jobs, a 1.1 percent increase, the EDD said.

The professional and business services sector also showed the strongest job gains on an annual basis, adding 48,000 jobs, or a 2.2 percent hike.

Also in the past year, construction employment fell by 4,000 jobs while information employment decreased by 1,800 positions, the EDD said.