State, L.A. jobless rates show small declines

These are the results for January so don't confuse them with February's U.S. employment report that also came out this morning. The January jobless rate for California was 10.9 percent, down from 11.2 percent in December - and the first time the rate has been under 11 percent in nearly three years. (The U.S. rate in January was 8.3 percent, and it was unchanged in February). L.A. County remains on the high side, with an 11.8 percent rate in January, down from a revised 12 percent in December. The separate payroll survey wasn't as encouraging, with a drop of 5,200 payroll jobs statewide compared with December. In L.A. County, the drop was 84,900. Here's the EDD release. We'll have more later.