Calif. unemployment rate dips below 11 percent

California’s unemployment rate dipped by a tenth of a percentage point in April to 10.9 percent as a federal survey showed 20,000 new jobs were created.

That’s down from 11 percent in March.

The state Economic Development Department said Friday that nearly 300,000 new jobs have been added since April 2010.

More than 2 million Californians are still out of work, but there were 164,000 fewer unemployed than a year ago.

In the Riverside and San Bernardino County market area, the unemployment rate fell one percentage point from March to April.

The rate dropped to 11.7 percent, from a revised 12.7 percent in March, according to numbers released Friday.

Broken down, Riverside County’s rate fell to 11.8 percent and San Bernardino County’s fell to 11.7 percent.

The nation’s unemployment rate also fell in April, to 8.1 percent.

A year ago, California’s unemployment rate was 11.8 percent.

The state agency says 385,600 jobs have been created in California since the economic recovery began in September 2009.

Last month, they included jobs in mining and logging, trade, transportation and utilities and professional and business services.