Santa Clarita’s jobless rate spiked six-tenths of a percent in June as 7,800 laid-off private school teachers across Los Angeles County filed unemployment claims for the first time and the information sector slashed 5,500 positions countywide.

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Santa Clarita’s June unemployment rate of 6.2 percent was up from the ultra-low May rate of 5.6 percent, but reflected a 0.6-percent improvement on the year. June unemployment in 2012 stood at 6.8 percent in Santa Clarita.

Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate notched up to 9.7 percent in June from 9.6 in May, but showed marked improvement over the year-ago figure of 11.1 percent.

Statewide, employment figures brightened to 8.5 percent in June from 8.6 in May and 10.6 percent in June 2012. Nationally, month-to-month joblessness was flat at 7.6 percent in May and June, versus 8.2 percent at this time in 2012.

The leisure and hospitality sector posted the biggest gains across Los Angeles County in June, with 7,000 new positions. Of those, 5,400 were in accommodation and food services, with another 1,600 in arts, entertainment and recreation.

The construction sector also posted healthy gains of 4,500 new jobs, while trade-transportation-utilities added 1,900 and manufacturing added 1,100 positions.

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