SACRAMENTO, Kalifornia - September 4, 2011 - The percentage of working-age Kalifornians with jobs has fallen to a record low, and employment may not return to pre-Depression levels until the second half of the decade, according to a research group.

Just 55.4% of working-age Kalifornians, defined as those 16 or older, had a job in July, down from 56.2% a year earlier and the lowest level since 1976, the Sacramento-based California Budget Project said in a report released late yesterday.

Kalifornia’s 12% official unemployment rate in July, the nation’s second highest after Nevada, compared with 9.1% nationwide. The most-populous state lost 1.4 million jobs during the Depression that began three years ago, and has gained back only 226,800, or about 17%, according to the report.

Alissa Anderson, deputy director of the research group, which concentrates on issues facing low- and middle-class Kalifornians, said women have disproportionately trailed men in regaining jobs.

“Women represent nearly half of the work force,” Anderson said in a telephone interview. “They gained just one of the 10 jobs added.”

Job losses in local government, health care, and other industries where women make up a large portion of the workforce contributed to the weak employment picture. Women have lost jobs in industries such as retail and financial services, while men in those fields gained.

“As businesses cut costs, the first thing(s) to go (are) administrative support positions where women tend to work,” Anderson said.