California's jobless rate continued to show very slight improvement in June, dropping another 0.1 percent to 12.3 percent, according to a report issued today by the state Employment Development Department.

The state unemployment rate was 12.5 percent in April and 12.4 percent in May.

California's unemployment rate was 11.6 percent in June 2009.

According to the EDD, most of the job losses in the past month were government jobs, primarily temporary federal census workers.

The EDD estimated there were 2,244,000 Californians without jobs in June.

The national unemployment rate also dropped in June to 9.5 percent.

Commenting on today's numbers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took the opportunity to call for the state to pass a budget "as quickly as possible" without raising taxes or "costs on the employers who will get our economy back on track," he said in a prepared statement.

"The road to economic recovery is long and difficult, and that's why it is so important that the state not hinder progress," Schwarzenegger said.

The nine-county Bay Area continued to fare better than the state average in June, according to the EDD report.

Marin County had the lowest unemployment in the region in June at 8.2 percent, and Solano County was highest at 12.2 percent. Unemployment was at 11.5 percent in Alameda County, 11.3 percent in Santa Clara County, and 9.6 percent in San Francisco.

— Bay City News Service

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