Sacramento

California Employment Figures Due: An update on California’s job market, which has recovered modestly in recent months despite signs of economic weakness nationally, is due out Friday when officials release employment figures for June. In May, California gained 15,300 jobs despite a nose dive in the U.S. job market that eliminated 101,000 workers from employers’ payrolls. But the state’s unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, has been rising since February. It hit 8.5% in May, well above the U.S. rate of 5.7%. Analysts will also be looking at the updated unemployment rate for Los Angeles County, which is thought to remain in a slump.