California's unemployment rate soars, but worst yet to come

ADAM BEAM and JOCELYN GECKER

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO (AP) — California lost nearly 100,000 jobs in March, state officials announced Friday, signaling a sudden end to a record 10-year streak of growth because of a coronavirus outbreak that has shuttered nonessential businesses and overwhelmed the state's unemployment office.

The unemployment rate in the nation's most populous state was 5.3% in March — a 1.4 percentage point increase that is the largest jump on record since 1976, when state officials began using the current formula for tracking job losses.

"We are now in a pandemic-induced r...