Silicon Valley Unemployment Rate Hits 11%

California’s Silicon Valley, the nation’s information technology mecca, saw its unemployment rate hit 11% in March, nearly doubling in one year.

The nation’s unemployment rate is 8.5 percent.

The region lost 4,100 jobs last month, and 36,000 in the past year, according to the state Employment Development Department.

Some 101,500 people are unemployed and seeking jobs, up from 47,800 in March 2008.

California has the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the nation.