We may or may not be in a recession, but for many Californians, it feels like one. That's the upshot of two new studies this labor day.
Unemployment is at a 12-year high of 7.3 percent in the state. But a report by the non-partisan California Budget Project suggests the real figure is closer to 14 or 15 percent.
Alissa Anderson with the organization says that's because many people aren't able to work as much as they want to:
In July 2008, More than 800,000 California workers were employed part-time that wanted to work fulltime. A 30.1 percent increase from July 2007.
The report also finds that Latino workers have been particularly affected by the economic slow-down.
Anderson says that's because many Latinos work in the hard-hit construction industry.
Another study by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor, Research and Education found that the wages of lower and middle income Californians have remained fairly stagnant, while those of higher earners have increased.
