California unemployment rate falls for the first time in months. Here’s why
California saw statewide unemployment numbers inch down in May after three months of being unchanged, the Employment Development Department announced Friday.
The state agency said employers added 43,700 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, the largest increase to the workforce since October. It lowered the state’s unemployment rate to 5.2% from 5.3%, which was the highest in the nation. The added jobs accounted for 16.1% of the country’s gains while California has an 11% labor share nationally.
Despite the statewide growth, Sacramento County remained mostly unchanged, losing just 200 jobs between April and May, according to the EDD’s figures. The hub of the capital region employs 701,800 people, according to state officials.
Also unchanged from the previous month were job numbers for Placer County (188,400), El Dorado County (90,500) and Yolo County (105,000).
In the four-county region, the percentage of unemployed remained below the state average. Sacramento’s nonseasonal adjusted unemployment was pegged at 4%, a half-percentage-point decrease from a month ago. El Dorado and Placer fared better at 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively. Yolo County, which has a sizable agricultural economy, had an unemployment figure of 4.2%.
The nonfarm industries that saw the most growth between April and May statewide were the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 10,200 jobs; private education and health services with 9,300; and professional business services with 9,000. Eight of the state’s 11 industry sectors categorized by the state gained jobs while only two lost headcounts — mining and logging remained unchanged, according to the EDD.
The increase in jobs tied to the leisure and hospitality sector came in part, officials said, to the change in seasons as California dried out from a wet winter, which included a second-consecutive new year of heavy snowfall. The industry was also helped by accommodations and food services gaining 8,100 jobs in May after adding 5,900 in April.
The EDD reported 1,900 information jobs and 1,400 manufacturing jobs have been lost since April, continuing a downward trend. The state lost 42,600 information jobs, amid wide-ranging tech layoffs in the Bay Area and elsewhere, and 21,600 manufacturing jobs over the past year.
The most growth over the past year has come from private education and health services, which gained 158,300 jobs over the past 12 months, in line with national growth in the health care industry. A new law was passed raising the minimum wage for health care workers to $25 an hour last October. However, lawmakers delayed the pay increase to July 1 amid a state budget gap.
National unemployment remained at 4% with 6.6 million people being unemployed. The figure was up from this time last year when the unemployment rate was 3.7% and 6.1 million people were idle.
May marked the 49th month of job market expansion for California after the state lost 2.7 million jobs at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state has added over 3.1 million jobs since May 2020, according to the EDD.
