California jobless rate hits 9.3 percent...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's unemployment rate jumped to 9.3 percent in December from 8.4 percent in November and 5.9 percent a year earlier as job cuts swept across most industries, with recession tightening its grip on the most populous U.S. state, state officials said on Friday.California's December jobless rate marked a 14-year high for the state and was significantly higher than the month's national average of 7.2 percent, underscoring a surge in job losses over the last three months of 2008, said Patti Roberts, a spokeswoman for the state's Employment Development Department...Link