March Job Gains Revised Upwards In Latest Numbers

California’s labor market continued to expand at a steady pace in April, with total nonfarm employment in the state growing by 41,400 positions over the month, according to an analysis released jointly by Beacon Economics and the UCR School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development. March’s gains were also revised up to 74,400 in the latest numbers, a 14,200 increase from the preliminary estimate of 60,200.

While California added jobs at a healthy pace throughout 2021 and has done the same so far in 2022, as of April, the state has recovered just 91.3% of the jobs that were lost in March and April of 2020, the onset of the pandemic. There are now 239,900 fewer people employed in California compared to February 2020. Total nonfarm employment in the state has contracted 1.4% since that time compared to a 0.8% drop nationally. With a larger portion of its workforce still to be recovered, California increased payrolls by 5.6% from April 2021 to April 2022, well above the 4.6% increase nationally over the same period.

California’s unemployment rate fell to 4.6% in April, a 0.2 percentage-point decline from the previous month. The decline was driven by an increase in household employment (+150,000). Still, the state’s unemployment rate remains elevated relative to the 3.6% rate in the nation overall. While growing by 111,800 in April, California is continuing to struggle with its labor supply. Since February 2020, the state’s labor force has decreased by 299,600 workers, a 1.5% decline.

“Labor supply remains the biggest constraint to job growth in the state,” said Taner Osman, Research Manager at Beacon Economics and the Center for Economic Forecasting. “And as employers seek to ramp up employment during the seasonally strong summer months, worker scarcity will continue to place upward pressure on wages in the state.”

Industry Profile  

• At the industry level, the largest jobs gains continue to occur in the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. While a handful of sectors in California are now exceeding their pre-pandemic peaks, employment levels in the hardest hit sectors remain below their pre-pandemic levels and should continue to steadily gain back jobs over the coming months.
• Leisure and Hospitality led payrolls gains in April, expanding by 20,100. Payrolls in Leisure and Hospitality still have a long way to go to recover all of the jobs lost due to the pandemic however, with payrolls still down 8.7% compared to February 2020.
• Other sectors posting strong gains during the month were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (7,300), Government (4,600), Retail Trade (4,500), Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (4,200), Administrative Support (3,100), Manufacturing (2,600), and Information (1,800).
• While job gains were broad-based in April, the Construction (-13,200) sector posted significant losses during the month. Health Care (-500), Other Services (-100), and Mining and Logging (-100) also shed positions, but the losses were minor.

Regional Profile

• Regionally, job gains were led by Southern California. Los Angeles (MD) saw the largest increase, where payrolls grew by 9,600 (0.2%) during the month. The Inland Empire (8,000 or 0.5%), San Diego (4,500 or 0.3%), and Orange County (4,300 or 0.3%) also saw their payrolls jump during the month. The Inland Empire (122.6%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, measured by the percentage of jobs recovered from April 2020 to April 2022 relative to the jobs lost from February 2020 to April 2020. The IE is followed by El Centro (108.5%), San Diego (94.4%), Orange County (83.9%), Los Angeles (MD) (83.5%), and Ventura (75.0%).
• In the Bay Area, San Francisco (MD) experienced the largest increase, with payrolls expanding by 4,900 (0.4%) positions in April. San Jose (4,300 or 0.4%), the East Bay (2,100 or 0.2%), Santa Rosa (500 or 0.2%), and Vallejo (300 or 0.2%) also saw payrolls expand during the month. Since April 2020, San Jose (85.8%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, followed by the East Bay (82.3%), Santa Rosa (77.3%), San Francisco (MD) (77.1%), Napa (76.7%), Vallejo (68.3%), and San Rafael (MD) (58.7%).
• In the Central Valley, Sacramento experienced the largest monthly increase as payrolls expanded by 4,700 (0.4%) positions in April. Payrolls in Bakersfield (1,400 or 0.5%), Fresno (1,000 or 0.3%), Visalia (600 or 0.4%), Modesto (400 or 0.2%), Chico (300 or 0.4%), and Redding (200 or 0.3%) increased steadily as well. Since April 2020, Visalia (126.4%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, followed by Stockton (124.3%), Yuba (122%), Madera (116%), Sacramento (109.6%), Redding (108.9%), Merced (105.1%), and Fresno (104.0%).
• On California’s Central Coast, Santa Barbara added the largest number of jobs, with payrolls increasing by 100 (0.1%) during the month. San Luis Obispo (-1,400 or 1.2%), Santa Cruz (300 or 0.3%), and Salinas (300 or 0.2%) saw payrolls decline. Since April 2020, San Luis Obispo (89.3%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, followed by Santa Barbara (86.9%), Santa Cruz (81.9%), and Salinas (78.7%).