Not only did California add 18,000 jobs in March. What's more, February's original 4,000 job gain was revised all the way up to nearly 40,000. That's welcome news after a lousy January, when the state only picked up 1,500 new jobs.
The unemployment rate actually grew a tenth of a point last month… to an even 11 percent. But that's likely due to previously-discouraged workers re-entering the workforce.
About a quarter of California counties have single-digit jobless rates - led by Marin at seven percent and San Mateo at seven-and-a-half. Orange and San Francisco counties are also doing well, at a shade over eight percent. Colusa and Imperial have the worst unemployment rates - at more than 26 percent.