California unemployment rate unchanged at 5.5 percent

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - State officials say California’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent in September.

The California Employment Development Department said Friday the rate has been unchanged for three months in a row.

In September 2015 the unemployment rate was 6 percent.

The department says employers added 30,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, for a total of more than 2.3 million since expansion began in February 2010.

The U.S. unemployment rate was up a tenth of a percentage point to 5 percent in September.