Web Version | Update Preferences
 
Center for Jobs Twitter Tweet Button
 
 
QUICK FACTS: California Employment Report for April 2024
 

The Center for Jobs and the Economy has released our initial analysis of the April Employment Report from the California Employment Development Department. For additional information and data about the California economy visit www.centerforjobs.org/ca.
 
Tepid Results in April Data
 

Both the nonfarm job and employment numbers showed positive gains in April, but at relatively modest levels.  Nonfarm jobs rose by 5,200, and were not strong enough to even offset the 10,100 downward adjustment to the March gains.  In the first 4 months of 2024, job gains have averaged 10,600, better than the 2,300 average loss in the same period during 2023 but below the overall 20,800 average during pre-pandemic 2019.

Employment gains were also modest at 5,800, but were only the second positive posting since last June.  Although unemployment also showed little change, California again showed the highest unemployment rate among the states and DC for the third month in a row.
 
California Labor Force
 
Image Alt
 
 
5.3%
 
CA Unemployment
Rate
 
  

California's reported unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) in April was again unchanged at 5.3%.  The US rate rose 0.1 point to 3.9%.

California again had the highest unemployment rate among the states and DC.
 
 
 
5.8k
 
CA Employment
 
  

Employment rose marginally by 5,800 (seasonally adjusted), with the total employment loss since April 2023 at 115,100. 

US employment rose by 25,000. 

California unemployment edged down 5,9000, while US unemployment rose by 63,000.  California unemployment has remained above the 1 million mark for the past 4 months in a row.
 
 
 
62.0%
 
CA Labor Force
Participation Rate
 
  

California labor force (seasonally adjusted) remained essentially unchanged with a loss of only 100, while the labor force participation rate was level at 62.0%. The US labor force rose 87,000, while the participation rate was unchanged at 62.7%.
 
 
Recovery Progress: CA Employment vs. Other States
 

Compared to the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020, California’s sustained weakness in employment recovery remained at the 3rd lowest among the states and DC.
 
Image Alt
 
Nonfarm Jobs
 
5.2k
 
Nonfarm Jobs
Change
 
  

Nonfarm wage and salary jobs edged up 5,200 in the preliminary results for April, not even offsetting the 10,100 downward revision of the March gain to 18,200.

For the US as a whole, nonfarm jobs rose 175,000 in April.

The seasonally adjusted numbers for California showed gains in 8 industries, losses in 9, and no change in Other Services.   Increases were led by Healthcare & Social Assistance (10,100), and Accommodation & Food Services (4,500), and Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (3,700).  Losses were led by Construction (-6,000), Manufacturing  (-5,300), and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services  (-3,600).
 
 
Recovery Progress: CA Nonfarm Jobs vs. Other States
 

California’s monthly job performance in April was the 16th highest among the states and DC.  Florida was highest with a gain of 45.3k, followed by Texas at 42.6k and Missouri at 16.7k.

Compared to the pre-pandemic peak, California has now gained a net 342,200 nonfarm jobs, still in 4th place among the states and DC but only 19,900 ahead of 5th place Georgia.
 
Image Alt
 

Adjusted for size, California remained at 31st highest, below the US average.
 
Image Alt
 
Nonfarm Jobs by Region
 

By region, job gains were concentrated in Los Angeles and Inland Empire.  The budget-critical Bay Area saw only a marginal gain of 300 nonfarm jobs, and remains 55,800 below the pre-pandemic peak.
 
Image Alt
 

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.
 
Unemployment Rates by Region
 

Looking at employment, Central Coast was the only region to post a monthly gain.
 
Image Alt
 

Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) remain higher in all regions except the Central Coast compared to pre-pandemic February 2020 levels.
 
Image Alt
 
Counties with Double-Digit Unemployment
 
4
 
Counties with
Unemployment Above
10%
 
  

The number of counties with an unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) at 10% or more dropped to 4. The unadjusted rates ranged from 3.3% in San Mateo to 15.7% in Imperial.
 
 
California MSAs in the 25 Highest Unemployment Rates
 
14
 
MSAs in the Bottom
25 by Unemployment
Rate
 
  

Nationally, 14 MSAs were in the 25 with the highest unemployment rates in March, including the 4 worst MSAs.
 
 
Image Alt
 
Unemployment Rate by Legislative District
 

The estimated unemployment rates are shown below for the highest and lowest districts.  The full data and methodology are available on the Center’s website.
 
Image Alt
 
 
 
 
Contact
1301 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.553.4093
 
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, select here to unsubscribe.