California's reported unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) in November improved 0.4 point to 6.9%, the best since March 2020 at the beginnings of the pandemic. California, however, had the worst unemployment rate among the states.  Nebraska again topped the states at 1.8%, followed by Utah at 2.1%.

The November numbers show the number of unemployed down by 62,000.  Employment rose 79,900.  As a result, the labor force was essentially unchanged with a rise of only 17,900, again reflecting continuing labor shortages. The state’s labor force participation rate edged up 0.1 point to 61.2%, while the US rate was up 0.2 point to 61.8%.

The reported national numbers show US unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) also improving 0.4 point to 4.2%, just 0.2 point below the March 2020 level at the beginnings of the pandemic.  Employment was up 1.136 million, while unemployment dropped 542,000.  The labor force was up 594,000.

Nonfarm wage and salary jobs rose 45,700 (seasonally adjusted) in November, while the gains in October were revised up 14,800 to 111,600.  The stronger gains in October largely reflect the outcome of the end of the enhanced federal unemployment payments in September.

Nonfarm jobs nationally were up 210,000, but this number largely reflects the continuing effort to apply the seasonal adjustments to pandemic period data.  The unadjusted numbers continue to show much wider differences, with the November gains instead coming in at 778,000.

As of the November numbers, California has regained 68% of the nonfarm jobs lost to the state shutdowns.  The rest of the states combined regained 83% of the jobs lost in the pandemic period. 
California job increases were led by Professional, Scientific & Technical Services (18,100), Accommodation & Food Services (11,100), and Health Care & Social Assistance (9,300).  Losses were in 5 industries, led by Retail Trade (-8,600), Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (-4,200), and Construction (-1,700).

From the new Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) estimates by state, the number of unfilled job openings were essentially unchanged at 1.153 million, the highest of any state.

While the number of job openings remains high, so does the number of unemployed in the state.  The ratio of unemployed to job openings in October was an estimated 1.2 for California—meaning, there were 1.2 unemployed workers for every unfilled job opening—while the comparable number for the US came in again as the series low of 0.7.  The national number instead continues to indicate a substantial labor shortage elsewhere in the country that is holding back jobs recovery and growth.  The California results indicate the workers are there but not returning to jobs due to a mismatch in labor skills or other factors hindering a return to work.  The national numbers indicate the same conditions but a much stronger need to get workers back into the labor force as well.  As with the results in recent months, the jobs are there for stronger recovery; the workers are not in spite of growing wages.

The number of workers quitting jobs continued to ease to 396,000, a level that still remains elevated and indicates that workers are able to do so while seeking higher wages and/or better benefits in their jobs.  Hirings were much stronger, continuing a 6-month rise to 696,000.

For the 12 months ending November, the average hourly wage for private sector workers grew 4.8%, down slightly from the revised 5.2% for October.  Average weekly hours worked dipped 1.1%, resulting in a combined 1.5% increase in average weekly earnings.

In the most recent results, inflation as measured by the California CPI was running at an annual rate of 5.6% as of October, compared to the US level of 6.2% in October and 6.8% in November.  Wage gains continue to be overwhelmed by growing inflation.

The number of counties with an unemployment rate at 10% or edged up to 2. The unadjusted rates ranged from 2.9% in Marin to 15.5% in Imperial.

On an MSA basis in October, California had 12 of the 25 MSAs with the worst unemployment rates in the country, ranging from Modesto MSA and Yuba City MSAs at 6.9% (tied at #370 out of 389) to El Centro MSA at 17.7% (worst in the country at #389). 
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA was at 7.1% (4-way tie for #373). 

The highest ranked California region was again San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA at 3.8% (17-way tie for #194), meaning 182 urban areas in the country were performing better than those in California.