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California’s unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent in August 2022

Published:

NR No. 22-32
Contact: Loree Levy/Aubrey Henry
916-654-9029
mediainquiries@edd.ca.gov

IMPORTANT NOTE: The employment data for the month of August 2022 is taken from the survey week including August 12th. Data for the month of September is scheduled for release on October 21, 2022.

Employers added 19,900 nonfarm payroll jobs

SACRAMENTO – California’s unemployment rate increased in the month of August 2022 to 4.1 percent1, despite the state’s employers adding 19,900 nonfarm payroll jobs2 to the economy, according to data released today by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) from two surveys.

The California unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in July 2022, above July 2022’s rate of 3.9 percent.
California payroll jobs totaled 17,644,600 in August 2022, up 15,980 from July 2022 and up 677,100 from August of last year.

California’s Labor Market, by the Numbers...

  • August 2022’s 0.2 percentage point gain is the first time since May of 2020 that California’s unemployment rate saw a month-over increase.
  • The state has now regained 98.3 percent (2,711,600) of the 2,758,900 nonfarm jobs lost during March and April of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • August 2022 marked the 11th consecutive month of nonfarm job gains, which now totals a 690,000 job gain over that time period.
  • Seven of California’s 11 industry sectors gained jobs in August. Leisure & Hospitality had the strongest gains (+9,800) with the majority of it occurring in Accommodation.
  • Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (+6,000) showed noticeable gains in the Retail subsector with most of those gains occurring in Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers, Food and Beverage Stores, and Health and Personal Care Stores.
  • Information (-3,800) suffered the largest month-over job loss due, mainly, to reductions in Motion Picture and Video Industries, as well as Data Processing and Hosting Services.

1. The unemployment rate comes from a separate federal survey of 5,100 California households.
2. The nonfarm payroll job numbers come from a federal survey of 80,000 California businesses.

Data Trends about Jobs in the Economy

Total Nonfarm Payroll Jobs

Total Nonfarm Payroll Jobs (Comes from a monthly survey of approximately 80,000 California businesses that estimates jobs in the economy – seasonally adjusted)

  • Month-over – Total nonfarm jobs in California’s 11 major industries totaled 17,644,600 in August – a net gain 19,900 jobs from July. This followed an upwards revised (+6,600) month-over gain of 91,400 jobs in July.
  • Year-over – Total nonfarm jobs increased by 677,100 (a 4.0 percent increase) from August 2021 to August 2022 compared to the U.S. annual gain of 5,840,000 jobs (a 4.0 percent increase).
This table shows the number of California nonfarm payroll jobs grouped by major industries, with columns showing month-over and year-over change, plus total payroll jobs as of August 2022. If you need an alternative format to access this information, contact the EDD Equal Employment Opportunity Office at EEOmail@edd.ca.gov or call toll free 1-866-490-8879.
Major Industries Month-over Change (July 2022–August 2022) Year-over Change (August 2021–August 2022) Total Payroll Jobs as of August 2022

Leisure and Hospitality

+9,800 +158,800 1,915,300

Trade, Transp., Utilities

+6,000 +121,000 3,165,200

Professional and Business Services

+4,900 +139,600 2,851,400

Education and Health Services

+4,100 +100,700 2,933,100

Government

+1,000 +30,400 2,536,400

Financial Activities

+600 +5,800 833,300

Mining and Logging

+200 +500 19,400

Other Services

No Change +33,800 552,000
Manufacturing -1,200 +36,500 1,312,500

Construction 

-1,700 +40,600 918,700

Information

-3,800 +9,400 607,300

 

Total Farm jobs – The number of jobs in the agriculture industry decreased from July by 3,800 to a total of 411,500 jobs in August. The agricultural industry had 9,600 more farm jobs in August 2022 than it did in August a year ago.

Data Trends about Workers in the Economy

Employment and Unemployment in California (Based on a monthly federal survey of 5,100 California households which focuses on workers in the economy)

  • Employed – The number of Californians employed in August was 18,564,600, a decrease of 3,900 persons from July’s total of 18,568,500, but up 855,500 from the employment total in August 2021.
  • Unemployed – The number of unemployed Californians was 790,900 in August, an increase of 36,300 over the month, but down 549,300 in comparison to August 2021.
This table summarizes data from the prior text and adds that the civilian labor force (which is the labor force by place of residence, including workers involved in trading disputes) totaling 19,355,500 in August 2022, up 32,400 from July 2022 and up 306,200 from August of last year.
California Labor Force Month-over Change (July 2022–August 2022) Year-over Change (August 2021–August 2022)
* Civilian Labor Force (19,355,500) +32,400 +306,200
Total Civilian Employment (18,564,600) -3,900 +855,500
Unemployment (790,900) +36,300 -549,300

* Labor force by place of residence, including workers involved in trade disputes.

Unemployment Insurance Claims (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

The following data is from a sample week that includes the 19th of each month: In related data that figures into the state’s unemployment rate, there were 310,212 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the August 2022 sample week. That compares to 316,263 people in July and 638,976 people in August 2021. Concurrently, 37,200 initial claims were processed in the August 2022 sample week, which was a month-over decrease of 2,979 claims from July and a year-over decrease of 26,353 claims from August 2021.

In August 2022, there were 310,212 people receiving unemployment insurance benefits, down 6,051 from July 2022 and down 328,764 from August of last year. Additionally, there were 37,200 new unemployment insurance claims in August 2022, down 2,979 from July 2022 and down 26,353 from August of last year.
California Unemployment Insurance Claims Month-over Change (July 2022–August 2022) Year-over Change (August 2021–August 2022)
UI Recipients (310,212) -6,051 -328,764
New UI Claims (37,200) -2,979 -26,353
MONTHLY LABOR FORCE DATA FOR COUNTIES
August 2022 (Preliminary); 2021 Benchmark
NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED
COUNTY LABOR FORCE EMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
STATE TOTAL 19,288,300 18,505,600 782,700 4.1%
ALAMEDA 831,500 805,500 26,000 3.1%
ALPINE 470 440 30 5.6%
AMADOR 14,500 13,920 580 4.0%
BUTTE 92,200 88,400 3,800 4.1%
CALAVERAS 22,340 21,640 710 3.2%
COLUSA 11,590 10,710 880 7.6%
CONTRA COSTA 555,600 537,000 18,600 3.3%
DEL NORTE 9,580 9,130 450 4.7%
EL DORADO 93,000 90,300 2,800 3.0%
FRESNO 457,800 431,100 26,800 5.9%
GLENN 12,760 12,130 630 4.9%
HUMBOLDT 59,800 57,600 2,200 3.7%
IMPERIAL 70,500 59,100 11,400 16.2%
INYO 8,380 8,120 260 3.1%
KERN 392,300 366,100 26,300 6.7%
KINGS 56,300 52,800 3,500 6.3%
LAKE 29,610 28,300 1,310 4.4%
LASSEN 9,140 8,800 340 3.7%
LOS ANGELES 4,945,900 4,702,700 243,200 4.9%
MADERA 63,600 60,000 3,500 5.6%
MARIN 131,100 128,000 3,100 2.4%
MARIPOSA 7,550 7,250 300 3.9%
MENDOCINO 38,410 37,090 1,320 3.4%
MERCED 117,100 109,200 8,000 6.8%
MODOC 3,320 3,180 130 4.0%
MONO 8,950 8,650 310 3.4%
MONTEREY 222,000 212,100 9,900 4.4%
NAPA 70,400 68,400 2,000 2.8%
NEVADA 48,680 47,220 1,470 3.0%
ORANGE 1,593,900 1,545,600 48,300 3.0%
PLACER 193,300 187,900 5,300 2.8%
PLUMAS 7,730 7,340 390 5.0%
RIVERSIDE 1,165,500 1,115,600 49,900 4.3%
SACRAMENTO 727,000 699,100 27,900 3.8%
SAN BENITO 33,300 31,900 1,400 4.2%
SAN BERNARDINO 1,020,000 977,500 42,500 4.2%
SAN DIEGO 1,587,400 1,534,200 53,200 3.4%
SAN FRANCISCO 577,400 563,900 13,500 2.3%
SAN JOAQUIN 340,000 322,400 17,600 5.2%
SAN LUIS OBISPO 136,200 132,500 3,700 2.7%
SAN MATEO 456,800 447,000 9,800 2.1%
SANTA BARBARA 225,000 218,500 6,600 2.9%
SANTA CLARA 1,059,600 1,035,000 24,600 2.3%
SANTA CRUZ 138,600 133,400 5,300 3.8%
SHASTA 72,600 69,600 3,100 4.2%
SIERRA 1,390 1,350 40 3.1%
SISKIYOU 16,520 15,730 790 4.8%
SOLANO 201,500 193,100 8,500 4.2%
SONOMA 250,400 243,400 7,000 2.8%
STANISLAUS 244,000 231,400 12,600 5.2%
SUTTER 46,600 44,000 2,600 5.6%
TEHAMA 25,960 24,790 1,170 4.5%
TRINITY 4,690 4,530 170 3.5%
TULARE 206,300 189,900 16,400 7.9%
TUOLUMNE 20,100 19,270 840 4.2%
VENTURA 411,200 396,800 14,300 3.5%
YOLO 109,500 105,800 3,700 3.4%
YUBA 31,100 29,400 1,600 5.3%