In April 2016, California employers added 59,600 jobs, which made it so statewide unemployment reached only a 5.3 percent rate. For context, the national unemployment rate is 5 percent.
April’s 5.3 percent rate is the lowest rate that the state has seen since June 2007. The state has added 450,200 jobs since last April, and employment in California increased by 2.8 percent during the same time period.
For comparison, over the past 12 months, the general American economy has only seen a 1.9 percent increase in employment.
It is important to note that this gain is found across all sectors, not just popular or booming ones, such as technology. It is also notable that Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate is now only 4.7 percent, the lowest since May 2007. Adjacent Orange County posted an even more promising rate of 3.9 percent, likewise the lowest since 2007.
Northern California has fared even better. Santa Clara posted a 3.6 percent unemployment rate, the best seen since March 2001. San Francisco’s unemployment rate was below 3 percent for the first time since February 2001.
The state figures from which these findings derive show that 10 industries are largely responsible for this overall gain in employment. Professional services added the largest number of jobs with 17,900 new positions, accounting for about 30 percent of the increase.
Oddly enough, the information industry, which includes tech, was the only industry to see a minor net decrease in employment. The reason for such is likely due to the fact that this sector also includes the entertainment and publishing businesses, which are going through significant change.
