L.A.'s troubled jobs picture

So much for unemployment peaking out earlier this year. L.A. County's jobless rate was 12.9 percent in January, then fell to 11.9 percent, and in August was back up to 12.5 percent. That's not progress. The August number is nearly as high as the 12.8 percent rate in August 2010. Local government and leisure and hospitality took the biggest hits last month, but what's striking about the new report isn't so much the declines, but the small number of gains. Even old-reliable health care saw a month-over-month drop. You can't expect a full-throttle recovery if businesses don't hire. Of course, that's not to say there's no growth. I was struck by this morning's LAT's feature about how iPads are starting to be used by restaurants as a way for customers to order - not great news for waiters.

At Stacked in Torrance, which opened in May, iPads mounted on 60 tables enable patrons to flip through a touch screen to view pizza, burger and salad offerings. Diners can choose entrees and sides, pick out toppings, send their orders to the kitchen and divvy up the bill, all without talking to a staff person. To pay, customers swipe credit cards through slots built into the iPad holders. The co-founder of the restaurant, Paul Motenko, said he spent more than a year and $1 million developing the digital ordering regimen. It allowed him to open with a smaller-than-average staff, but he maintained that the hands-on system made customers feel more involved in the process.

Not to belabor, but employers of all kinds are looking for ways to cut labor costs - and that includes purchasing equipment that will prove to be cheaper (and more reliable) than a real live human being. Which is a small-but-telling reason why those job losses are not being matched by job gains.

Earlier: Another reminder of why companies aren't hiring like they used to

Earlier: Weak numbers for California, L.A.