533K Layoffs Nationwide in November; California, Silicon Valley Unemployment Rate Update

In numbers released by the Labor Department today, the month of November saw employers slash some 533,000 jobs, the most in 34 years. The number came in over 200,000 higher than the 320,000 economists were forecasting. The national unemployment rate currently stands at 6.8%.

With GM, Chrysler, and Ford all strapped for cash, the number could deteriorate significantly further in the coming months if the Big 3 do not land the cash they are seeking from Congress.

In California, the latest unemployment figures available are from October, where the unemployment rate has reached 8.2%, a staggering figure. The last time California’s unemployment rate went over 8% was in 1996. From 1990-1996, the unemployment rate in California bounced between 7.5-10% for the most part.

On a more local scale, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has local unemployment numbers for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (metropolitan statistical area). Those numbers too reveal a declining employment rate. The latest numbers available are from October, which reveals an unemployment rate of 6.9% for the South Bay.

The 10-year chart of the South Bay’s unemployment rate is below, along with a nearly 20-year table of historic data from the tenth month of each year.

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