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State's Jobless Rate Dips But Manufacturing Suffers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's unemployment rate continues to move lower, dropping to 8.3 percent in December.

That is 1.5 percentage points lower than the same time a year ago.

The state Employment Development Department reported Friday that California added 13,600 nonfarm payroll jobs during the month, bringing total job gains in the state to 922,500 since February 2010. That's when the department says the recovery from the recession began.

California's jobless rate remains above the national average of 6.7 percent.

Despite adding 235,700 jobs in 2013, higher-wage sectors such as manufacturing and construction posted declines in December. Manufacturing saw the biggest drop, with 6,000 job losses.

Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties had the lowest unemployment rates, all below 5 percent.

Colusa and Imperial counties had the highest, above 20 percent.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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