California Jobless Rate Drops To 6.3 Percent In June

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California's jobless rate dropped back to 6.3 percent in June after seeing a slight increase in May.

The state Employment Development Department reports Friday that the state added 22,900 nonfarm payroll jobs in June, helping unemployment return to April levels after the rate creeped up to 6.4 percent in May.

Professional and business services led the growth, adding the most jobs last month.

A year ago, California's jobless rate was 7.5 percent.

The numbers are based on federal and state surveys of employers and households, but don't take into account people who have stopped looking for work.

California's unemployment rate remains higher than the national average. U.S. unemployment dropped to 5.3 percent in June, the lowest it's been since April 2008.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.