100s protest unemployment in Los Angeles

Hundreds of people in the US city of Los Angeles have gathered to protest against the high rate of unemployment in the state of California, Press TV reported.

The protesters took to the streets after attending a jobs summit to develop better ways in order to return people to work and promote job creation.

California’s unemployment rate increased to 12 percent in August and its job creation rate slowed compared to the previous months.

“Right now in Los Angeles, one in four workers are unemployed or underemployed,” said Jacob Hay from Good Jobs LA, a community organization created to spur job growth in Los Angeles.

He noted that families are frustrated that the US Congress is not working to tackle unemployment, adding that the debate in Washington is dominated by protecting tax breaks for corporations that have already recovered from the economic crisis.

“The unemployed percentages here are higher than they are in the rest of the state and much higher than they are in the rest of the country. So we are really one of the key places in the whole country that jobs are desperately needed,” Hay told Press TV.

Despite reports of recovery, a new study by Good Jobs LA showed 22 companies have announced layoffs of 100 or more workers in Los Angeles between June and September of this year.

More than two million Californians are unemployed and one-third of them have been jobless for a year or more.

Economists say the majority of the job losses were the result of the housing market crash.