The Center for Jobs and the Economy has released our initial analysis of the December Employment Report from the California Employment Development Department.  The additional information we generally address from US Bureau of Labor Statistics will not be released until next Tuesday, at which time we will do a more complete analysis in our Full Jobs Report.  For additional information and data about the California economy visit www.centerforjobs.org/ca.

On a data note, the annual revision process began with updates to the national labor force numbers beginning with January 2019.  The Center’s website has been updated with this information.  The revisions will continue through March, when updates to the jobs numbers and the state and county labor force data will be completed.  Comparisons between geographic areas in the meantime should consider this difference in the release of the adjusted numbers.

Nonfarm jobs rose 23,400 in December while the November numbers saw a more modest adjustment to 8,100, down only 1,200 from the initial estimate.  The December number was above the 20,500 average experienced in pre-pandemic 2019.  For the year, job gains averaged 26,000 a month in the initial estimates, but as discussed in our report last month, are likely to be adjusted lower in the annual revisions.

Employment—the number of people working—dropped for the 6th month in a row, with a loss of 32,700 for December and a total loss of 180,500 since June.  Combined with a 29,200 rise in the number of unemployed, the unemployment rate rose 0.2 point to 5.1%, its highest point since January 2022.

In spite of continuing tech industry layoffs, the Bay Area again posted a positive jobs growth in December, and the Los Angeles Region again showed higher jobs numbers.  Overall jobs recovery since the pandemic in the budget-critical Bay Area remains weak.

Because the data in the table is seasonally adjusted, the numbers should be considered as the total for the counties in each region rather than the regional number.  This job series also is not available for all areas in California.

In November, California contained over half (15) of the MSAs among the 25 urban areas with the worst unemployment rates, including the worst region of the country in El Centro MSA (Imperial County).  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA fell just on the other side of this group, tying with three other MSAs—including Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA—at #353.  San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande MSA was the highest ranked California urban area, tying with 17 other MSAs at #234 (3.5%).