\I'm one of those fortunate during these times that is incredibly grateful to have a constant work flow, both steadily during the day and as a freelance artist/writer. The news and media, as we know can be deceiving because I was getting this impression that things were starting to look up. That could just be due to retailers hiring for the holidays though.
I looked up the unemployment rate targeting California and San Diego and initially the rate didn't seem that jarring. But these numbers don't reflect those that recently were dropped from unemployment, so it is actually much higher. Last updated in October, California sits at about 12% and San Diego at 10%.
You can view these stats and check / compare with different areas here.