The unemployment rate in the greater Sacramento area increased to 7.3 percent in July. The national unemployment rate hit 6.1 percent this month. The area has lost over 12,000 jobs in the last year with more promised to go.  As companies struggle to survive, it only makes sense to cut costs in any way possible. That includes lay-offs- sometimes, very large lay-offs.

Aerojet, Wachovia Bank, and IndyMac Bank are all downsizing and they are all in Rancho Cordova. A grand total of 247 workers will be job hunting in the very near future, if they aren’t already.

Aerojet builds rocket engines for the Defense Department and for NASA The company plans to lay of 99 workers by early October. This represents about 6% of the company’s local work force. Linda Cutler, a spokeswoman for Aerojet, says the downsizing “is not a reflection of major problems. It’s a slowdown or reduction in number of programs… Normal fluctuations in the kind of work we do”.

Wachovia Bank released information on September ninth that it would be laying off 20 workers from the student loan division in Rancho Cordova. Spokeswoman Ferris Morrison said the layoffs resulted from the decision to no longer cover private loans to undergraduates.

IndyMac’s layoffs were almost expected. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp took over the Pasadena, California based bank in July. The wholesale mortgage division in Rancho Cordova lost 128 workers on September 5th.

But with all the disturbing news comes a little hope. In the state, educational, health services, and government jobs increased with a total of over 85,000 positions. Also, the nation’s overall economy increased by 3.3% in the second quarter this year, a very positive sign of things to come, experts say.