The Center for Jobs and the Economy has released our initial analysis of the December Employment Report from the California Employment Development Department. For additional information and data about the California economy visit www.centerforjobs.org/ca. Comparisons across states will be addressed in our full jobs report following release of the data by US Bureau of Labor Statistics on the 28th.

The December preliminary data again showed mixed results from the two core surveys. Nonfarm jobs (seasonally adjusted) rose 15,000 in December, while the November gains were lowered by 1,500 to 9,600.

Employment (seasonally adjusted), in contrast, dipped by 3,100 from November, and by 13,800 for the year. Unemployment rose by 6,000 over the month, marking the 12th month in a row when the number of unemployed in the state was above 1 million.

The US labor force data has been updated with the release of the first slate of the annual revisions through 2020. Additional clarifications on the jobs and employment situations will be released with the annual data revision process for the states, beginning with the January data release scheduled for mid-March.

Looking at employment change over the year, the Central Valley continued to show the strongest gains, with Los Angeles remaining in the plus column. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, the strongest shortfalls remain in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) continue to be higher in most regions compared to pre-pandemic February 2020 levels.

The estimated unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) are shown below for the highest and lowest districts. The full data and methodology are available on the Center’s website.