California's double-digit unemployment problem

October unemployment rates fell in about two-thirds of the major metro areas in the U.S. from a year earlier, but most California cities remain stuck at over 10 percent - and in the case of El Centro, more than 20 percent. At least El Centro's jobless rate of 29.3 percent is an improvement over the previous month's 32.1 percent. Faring the best in California is the Santa Barbara metro area (figures), with an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent. Many areas are hovering 1-2 percentage points above the national rate. Here's a rundown from the BLS (note that L.A.'s figure is for the metro area, which is different than for L.A. County):

--Bakersfield-Delano....................14.4%
--Chico.................................12.8%
--El Centro.............................29.3%
--Fresno................................15.7%
--Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana......11.7%
--Modesto...............................16.2%
--Napa..................................8.9%
--Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura..........10.5%
--Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario......14.2%
--Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville...12.1%
--San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos.........10.2%
--San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont.........10.1%
--San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara........10.7%
--San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles...........9.4%
--Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta......8.7%
--Santa Cruz-Watsonville................10.6%
--Santa Rosa-Petaluma...................9.7%
--Stockton.............................. 16.3%
--Yuba City.............................17.8%