April Job Gains Revised Upwards In Latest Numbers

California’s labor market continued to expand at a steady pace in May (the latest data), with total nonfarm employment in the state growing by 42,900 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. April’s gains were also revised up to 44,600 in the latest numbers, a 3,200 increase from the preliminary estimate of 41,400.

While California has added jobs at a healthy pace in 2021 and 2022, as of May 2022, the state has recovered just 93% of the jobs that were lost in March and April 2020, and there are still 193,800 fewer people employed in California compared to February 2020. Total nonfarm employment in the state contracted 1.1% over this time compared to a 0.5% drop nationally. However, with a larger portion of its workforce to be recovered, California increased payrolls by 5.2% from May 2021 to May 2022, outpacing the 4.5% increase nationally over the same period.

California’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in May, a 0.3 percentage-point decline from the previous month, which was driven by an increase in household employment (+121,000). California’s unemployment rate remains elevated relative to the 3.6% rate in the United States overall. While growing by 75,000 in May, the state continues to struggle with its labor supply. Since February 2020, the California labor force has fallen by 232,100 workers, a 1.2% decline.

“The low unemployment rate in the state shows that worker supply remains the primary obstacle to job growth in California,” said Taner Osman, Research Manager at Beacon Economics and the Center for Economic Forecasting. “Moreover, a clear dichotomy has emerged, whereby labor markets in the state’s central communities have outperformed the coastal communities; the coast is routed in high cost and housing supply constraints and continues to experience labor market shortages.”

Industry Profile  

• 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 May, with payrolls expanding by 8,800. However, this industry still has a long way to go to recover all of the jobs lost due to the pandemic, with payrolls still down 8.4% since February 2020.
• Other sectors posting strong gains during the month were Information (8,800), Construction (7,100), Health Care (6,600), Government (4,600), Manufacturing (3,700), Other Services (3,600), and Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (3,600).
• Job gains were broad based in May with Retail Trade (-9,900) being the only sector to post significant losses during the month. Finance and Insurance (-500) and Mining and Logging (-300) also shed positions during the month, but the losses were minor.

Regional Profile

• Regionally, job gains were led by Southern California. San Diego saw the largest increase, where payrolls grew by 6,700 (0.4%) during the month. Orange County (6,500 or 0.4%), Los Angeles (MD) (5,200 or 0.1%), the Inland Empire (2,600 or 0.2%), and Ventura (2,100 or 0.7%) also saw their payrolls jump during the month. The Inland Empire (123.4%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, measured by the percentage of jobs recovered from April 2020 to May 2022 relative to the jobs lost from February 2020 to April 2020. The IE is followed by El Centro (110.2%), San Diego (97.1%), Orange County (86.5%), Los Angeles (MD) (83.9%), and Ventura (79.8%).
• In the Bay Area, San Francisco (MD) experienced the largest increase, with payrolls expanding by 2,700 (0.2%) positions in May. The East Bay (1,900 or 0.2%), San Jose (1,700 or 0.1%), and San Rafael (MD) (600 or 0.6%) also saw payrolls expand during the month. Since April 2020, San Jose (86.2%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, followed by the East Bay (83.8%), San Francisco (MD) (78.4%), Santa Rosa (76.5%), Napa (75.6%), Vallejo (67.4%), and San Rafael (MD) (62.6%).
• In the Central Valley, Sacramento experienced the largest monthly increase as payrolls expanded by 3,200 (0.3%) positions in May. Payrolls in Visalia (500 or 0.4%), Fresno (400 or 0.1%), Merced (300 or 0.4%), and Yuba (200 or 0.4%) increased steadily as well. Since April 2020, Visalia (127.9%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, followed by Stockton (124%), Yuba (124%), Madera (112%), Merced (111.9%), Sacramento (110.8%), Redding (105.1%), and Fresno (104.5%).
• On California’s Central Coast, San Luis Obispo added the largest number of jobs, with payrolls increasing by 1,100 (0.9%) during the month. Salinas (900 or 0.6%) and Santa Barbara (700 or 0.4%) also saw payrolls expand. Since April 2020, and San Luis Obispo (92.7%) has experienced the strongest recovery in the region, followed by Santa Barbara (89%), Salinas (82.2%), and Santa Cruz (80.5%).