(Unemployment dips slightly)....The jobless numbers for February have been released.

They are the latest numbers available. The numbers are released by the Labor Market Information Division of the Employment Development Department. The February report indicates the jobless rate was estimated at 17.2 %. That is down slightly from a revised 17.9 percent reported for January, but above the year-ago estimate of 15.8 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 5.6 percent for the state and 4.2 percent for the nation during the same period. The report indicates 12,800 eligible workers were unemployed out of a labor force of 74,400 in February.