The percentage of working-age Californians with jobs has fallen to a record low, and employment may not return to pre-recession levels until the second half of the decade, according to a research group.

Just 55.4 percent of working-age Californians, defined as those 16 or older, had a job in July, down from 56.2 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since 1976, the Sacramento- based California Budget Project said in a report released late yesterday.

California’s 12 percent unemployment rate in July, the nation’s second-highest after Nevada, compared with 9.1 percent nationwide. The most-populous state lost 1.4 million jobs during the recession that began three years ago, and has gained back only 226,800, or about 17 percent, according to the report.

Alissa Anderson, deputy director of the research group, which concentrates on issues facing low- and middle-class Californians, said women have disproportionately trailed men in regaining jobs.

In the early months of 2010, the economy was starting to show signs of life after the recession. Then Congress passed the president’s health-overhaul law.

Debate over the ObamaCare law’s potential impact on hiring and the economy has been fierce from the start. The president promised it would be a boon to both; then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the law would create 400,000 jobs “almost immediately.” Others argued the law would make businesses much less likely to hire new workers.

That debate should now be over.

The Heritage Foundation’s James Sherk recently released a paper comparing the rate of net job growth before and after the passage of ObamaCare in March 2010. The findings show that job creation came to a screeching halt at the time ObamaCare was enacted.

A dismal labor report Friday showed the economy added zero net workers in August, intensifying pressure on President Obama to unveil a major jobs initiative during his speech to Congress next week.

The Labor Department report, which showed the unemployment rate stuck at 9.1 percent, feeds into concerns that the economy could be at risk of another recession. It was the weakest jobs report since September 2010.

Republican leaders swiftly cited the report as renewed evidence that the Obama administration must change course.

With his approval rating dropping to historic lows, unemployment at an epic high and the Dow opening in the gutter, President Barack Obama is cutting his losses and taking a few days off.

A Gallup poll released Wednesday showed the president’s handling of the economy at a new low of 26 per cent in the aftermath of a bruising fight with Congress over federal spending.

Seventy-one percent of Americans said they disapproved of Obama's handling of the economy, up 11 percentage points from mid-May, when Gallup last questioned people about the issue.

The White House economic adviser who determined in 2009 that if President Barack Obama's stimulus bill were passed unemployment would not go above 8 percent, now says he was wrong and that he does not think unemployment will go below 8 percent before the end of 2012--the last year of the four-year term Obama won in 2008.

Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist and economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, wrote a report along with Christina Romer, the chairwoman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, in January 2009 predicting that the stimulus would keep unemployment at less than 8 percent. On Monday, Bernstein told CNSNews.com that his projection was flawed.

Unemployment rose in more than 90 percent of U.S. cities in June, mirroring a national slowdown in hiring.

The Labor Department says the unemployment rate rose in 345 large metro areas. It dropped in 20 cities and was unchanged in seven. That's worse than May, when the rate rose in only 210 cities and a sharp reversal from April, when unemployment actually fell in nearly all metro areas.

The biggest increase was in Joplin, Mo, which was hit by a major tornado on May 22. The city lost 9,400 jobs in June and the unemployment rate jumped nearly 2 percentage points, to 9.6 percent.

Nationwide, unemployment ticked up to 9.2 percent in June, the highest level this year.

Unemployment benefit applications have now topped 400,000 for 14 weeks, evidence that the job market has weakened since earlier this year. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 423,250 last week. That's the lowest since late April.

The weak job market "has forced households to be a bit more careful with their cash," said Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics, in a note to clients. "For the moment, these data will do little to dispel fears that the economic recovery is going nowhere."

“Today’s jobs report confirms what most Americans already know: We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to give people the opportunity they deserve,” President Barack Obama said Friday morning in a statement on the June jobs report.

“The economy is not producing nearly enough jobs,” he said, adding that Congress should not wait to act on measures to boost job growth.

This chart from the Heritage Foundation kind of says it all. Payroll employment today is 5 percent lower than it was before the recession began 41 months ago.

That places the current 'economic recovery' far below all other recessions dating back to the 1960's.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, suggesting the labor market was struggling to regain momentum.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits edged down 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 428,000, the Labor Department said.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims dropping to 420,000. The prior week's figure was unrevised at 429,000.

It was the 12th straight week that claims have been above 400,000, a level that is usually associated with a stable labor market. Employment stumbled badly in May, with employers adding just 54,000 jobs -- the fewest in eight months.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, suggesting little improvement in the labor market this month after employment stumbled in May.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised up to 420,000.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims to edge up to 415,000 from a previously reported count of 414,000.

The claims report covers the survey period for the government's closely watched data on nonfarm payrolls for June.

Claims increased 15,000 between the May and June survey periods, implying little or no gains in nonfarm payrolls this month after a modest 54,000 increase in May.

Less than half of African-American men now have full-time jobs, and less than half of all white men will have full-time jobs in 2018, according to post-2000 trends hidden in federal population and workforce data.

There are roughly 14 million people formally labeled as unemployed, but “there’s probably 22 million to 23 million people who are unemployed, mal-employed or underemployed,” said Andrew Sum, an economics professor at Northeastern University in Boston.

The hidden data shows that “we’ve got an overwhelming job gap that effects men more than women, less-educated men more then better-educated men, and the group aged 25 to 29 the most,” he said.

Nearly three-quarters of a million people in California who were unemployed in April had been out of work a year or more, according to the state Employment Development Department.  It is the only category of unemployment based on time out of work that increased year-over-year.

The EDD says another 431,000-plus people have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. It is not known how many of those have since found work.

New data released by the EDD show that as California continues to struggle to turn around, the workers who have been out of work the longest are having the most difficulty finding jobs.

Where did all the workers go?

The labor force — those who have a job or are looking for one — is getting smaller, even though the economy is growing and steadily adding jobs. That trend defies the rules of a normal economic recovery.

Nobody is sure why it's happening. Economists think some of the missing workers have retired, have entered college or are getting by on government disability checks. Others have probably just given up looking for work.

"A small work force means millions of discouraged workers, lower output in the future and a weak recovery," says Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the ranking Republican on the Congress' Joint Economic Committee. "Those are unhealthy signs."

By the government's definition, if you quit looking, you're no longer counted as unemployed. And you're no longer part of the labor force.

Since November, the number of Americans counted as employed has grown by 765,000, to just shy of 139 million.