California -- April 2011 Unemployment Rate Is 38.4% Higher Than Other States

Richard Rider reports:

Here's an unsettling thought: We have been comparing California's unemployment with the national average. But we should be comparing California vs. the average of the other 49 states.

This distinction is important because California holds about 12% of the entire nation's population, and thus materially impacts the national average.

Consider the latest figures for the month of April, 2011. If you take California's dismal 11.9% unemployment number out of the national average, the average for the other 49 states is not 9.0% -- but 8.6%. (See this report).

Bottom Line: In actual percentages, California's unemployment rate is a full 3.3% higher than the average for the other 49 states. In terms of percentage difference, that makes California's unemployment on average 38.4% higher than the other states.


Richard Rider is Chairman of the San Diego Tax Fighters.

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