The seven-week delay by the US Senate in passing an extension of unemployment benefits has considerably deepened the social crisis in California, the most populous state. Over 400,000 workers were affected...
The bill for extending unemployment benefits was stripped of a provision that would have made federal funds available to assist in the increased demand throughout all states for Medicaid; this will result in a deepening of the budget crisis in many states and ultimately increased layoffs of state and local workers as well as cuts to basic social services...Even with the decision to grant extensions, over 150,000 workers in California have reached the 99-week limit in unemployment benefits and will not receive further assistance.
Official unemployment in California for June remains in the double digits at 12.3 percent. Unemployment in some California counties, however, is much higher: in Imperial County the unemployment rate is 27.6 percent; in Sutter, 19.8 percent; Yuba, 18.8 percent; and in Merced 18.1 percent. Nearly 20 counties in the state have an official unemployment rate over 15 percent. In June 2010, 618,000 Californians filed first-time or extension claims, which is a 162 percent increase from the same month in 2008... CalJOBS, a state government career website, reported that from July 2009 to March 2010 the number of people looking for work totaled 1,693,499, with only 415,453 job openings.
These conditions are the expression of wretched inequality. Ten percent of the world’s billionaires reside in California, and the richest resident billionaire controls a personal wealth greater than the state’s deficit.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/cali-j23.shtml 
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