California adds 32,500 jobs in January, but 2009 losses revised sharply upward

(From the Sacramento Bee) Last year was a far bigger disaster for the California economy than first believed. California lost 338,000 more jobs in 2009 than originally reported, state officials said Friday, releasing the results of their annual recount of the previous year’s job figures.

The revision brings last year’s total statewide job loss to 836,000, or nearly 50 percent more than previously thought. It’s further evidence that California is a long way from full recovery even though the economy has probably bottomed out.

“The bottom’s at an even lower place,” said Jeff Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific.

The revision was far worse than Michael and others had expected, and it overshadowed some positive news released Friday: 2010 began well.

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