04/18/2009-Pasadena: While some see indicators of economic upswing, the news isn’t good

Even with news that the stock market posted its sixth week of gains, Citigroup had its first profitable first quarter since 2007, and Ashton Kutcher is more popular on Twitter than CNN, there’s still tough news in the heartland and here in the Golden State. California’s unemployment rate hit 11.2% with 211,000 people unemployed for more than 4y6 weeks. LA County reports 11.4% unemployment, with Pasadena at 8.4%. The Bureau of labor Statistics pegs the national unemployment rate at 8.5%. Their terrifically informative web site is at http://www.bls.gov/.