The state was one of five, along with Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, that reached their highest unemployment rates since the government began keeping track in 1976, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. California’s was 12.5% in January, up from 12.3% in December.

“The unemployment rate will be persistently at this high level for at least a few more months,” said Esmael Adibi, an economist at Chapman University in Orange.

That is extremely bad news for both Californians and the economy. It could be worse, of course, as the Great Depression proves, but the unemployed may have a long road to travel before recovery comes.