California unemployment holds at record low 3.9 percent in December

In the Central Valley, only Sacramento County had a jobless rate less than the state’s average. Adjacent Yolo County was at the state average while all other Valley counties had unemployment rates greater than the state average. The job gains in December contribute to a record job expansion in California of 118 months, surpassing the long expansion of the 1960s. California has gained  3,422,900 jobs since the current expansion began after the bottom of the Great Recession had been reached in February 2010, accounting for more than 15 percent of the nation’s 22,688,000 job gain over the same timeframe.

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Free seven-month “code academy” expands in Stanislaus

As many as 1,000 Central Valley residents could be trained to be software programmers in an expanding program offered in Modesto. Programmers are in sharp demand and often command high salaries. Bay Valley Tech is teaming with the Stanislaus County Office of Education to offer free training – valued at as much as $15,000 – for local residents. Students in the “code academy” learn new programming skills through flexible online courses, peer-based tutoring and weekly in-person classes where they have opportunities to network with local software professionals and hiring managers. Bay Valley Tech says it has also partnered with local companies to provide software  professionals as code academy mentors and paid internships for top program graduates.

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