California’s unemployment rate improved to 5.5 percent in November 2025 from the 5.6% rate in September. In addition, the State’s employers added 32,500 nonfarm payroll jobs. These recent data points released by the Employment Development Department (EDD) come from two separate surveys. November’s gain follows an October month-over gain of 1,500 nonfarm jobs. Total nonfarm employment for September was revised down (-1,700) to a total loss of 6,200 jobs. Due to impacts of the recent federal government shutdown, there is limited employment data for the month of October, including the inability to determine an unemployment rate for the month.
News and Announcements
The Employment Development Department (EDD) is updating the previously announced release date for available state unemployment and employment data for October and November 2025.
What You Need to Know: Although the federal government shutdown ended on November 12, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics required additional time to complete data processing, causing delays for states to release their labor market data. As a result, California will now release its September 2025 unemployment rate and industry employment data on December 12, 2025.