Local unemployment rates surge

[DEVELOPING] Unemployment rates surged in Glendale and Burbank in January, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Economic Development Department.

The jobless rate in Glendale was 11.5% in January, up from 10.5% in December, and was 10.7% in Burbank, up from 9.8% in a month ago, according to the report.

The changes in local figures could be a result of seasonal employment trends, since they are not adjusted.

While the unadjusted jobless rate for Los Angeles County rose a percentage point, to 13.2%, seasonally adjusted rates moved from 12.2% in December to 12.5% in January, according to the report.

Countywide employment in the motion picture and sound recording industry, the region’s major employer and a significant economic force in Glendale and Burbank, was down 8.2% from its mark in December, with about 10,700 fewer reported jobs.

Those figures do not account for freelancers or independent contractors.