Los Angeles Times (03/24/12) Alejandro Lazo

California employers added 4,000 jobs in February, signaling slow but steady improvement in the labor market, according to figures released on March 23 by the California Employment Development Department. The state’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.9% as more workers looked for employment. The largest number of new positions was added in the information sector, which includes software and motion pictures, followed by manufacturing, educational and health services, and professional and business services.

The number of temporary workers hired by employers in California has been increasing over the last three months, says Jerry Nickelsburg, a senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California–Los Angeles. “This rise in temporary workers is at least in part showing the leading edge of employers beginning to bring employees on,” Nickelsburg says. “If the economy continues to see growth, they will continue to convert those into permanent jobs.”