Sacramento metro adds more jobs than state

The unemployment rate rose in both California and the Sacramento metro area in March, but preliminary job data showed the four-county capital region adding more jobs than the state as a whole.

Total industry employment in the Sacramento metro increased by 4,300 during March to reach 911,500, with much of the gain in government jobs. Wage and salary jobs were up by 1,800 from March 2007 to March 2008, a meager 0.2 percent gain.

But the civilian labor force in the Sacramento area grew faster, increasing 1.1 percent year-over-year to 1,069,300, according to data released Friday by the state Employment Development Department. That pushed the region's unemployment rate to an estimated 6.5 percent in March, up from a revised 6.2 percent in February and 5.1 percent in March 2007. Those figures were not adjusted for seasonal variations, such as the end of the ski season or the upturn in construction as winter weather improves.

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Statewide, payroll employment grew by 1,000 jobs in March to 15.166,200; year-over-year, payroll employment was down 12,000 jobs, a decline of 0.1 percent. The civilian labor force grew by 233,000 year-over-year, pushing the seasonally adjusted jobless rate from 5 percent in March 2007 to 6.2 percent last month. The unadjusted statewide jobless rate was 6.4 percent.