What You Need to Know: In honor of International Customer Experience Day, the Employment Development Department is proud to highlight recent customer experience improvements designed to deliver easier and more satisfying interactions with the Department. Those efforts include simplifying benefit applications, implementing clear plain language, and a 24/7 multilingual virtual assistant (chatbot). All done to deliver a smoother, faster, and more user-friendly customer experience.
News and Announcements
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What You Need to Know: California will delay the release of its September 2025 employment data, originally scheduled for October 17, due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. The State’s labor market estimates rely on data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has suspended operations during the shutdown. The Employment Development Department will publish the data after federal systems resume.
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What You Need to Know: The Employment Development Department is prepared to assist workers affected by the recent federal government shutdown and the layoffs announced today by the Trump Administration. EDD representatives are available to help workers apply for unemployment benefits as well as search for jobs available in state government, and elsewhere throughout the state. A dedicated, EDD federal workers webpage provides a collection of helpful resources dedicated to keeping the more than 248,000 federal workers in California and others impacted well informed of EDD support available.
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What You Need to Know: In honor of International Customer Experience Day, the Employment Development Department is proud to highlight recent customer experience improvements designed to deliver easier and more satisfying interactions with the Department. Those efforts include simplifying benefit applications, implementing clear plain language, and a 24/7 multilingual virtual assistant (chatbot). All done to deliver a smoother, faster, and more user-friendly customer experience.
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What You Need to Know: California is investing in Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities to address communication barriers in the workforce. The Employment Development Department is awarding $2.7 million to five organizations dedicated to providing employment and job training services for California workers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. This program aims to ensure effective communication and expand opportunities by providing equal access to public and private employment services.
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California gained 3,800 nonfarm payroll jobs in August 2025 as the State’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent, according to the latest Employment Development Department (EDD) data that comes from two separate surveys. August’s job gain follows a downward-revised job loss of 300 for July 2025. The majority of the revision was centered in Government, which was revised downward by 8,100 jobs when more information came in after the survey week. A big part of that decline came from Local Government reporting a loss of 7,600 jobs.
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This Labor Day, the Employment Development Department celebrates workers and honors their tremendous contributions to the country’s strength, prosperity, and well-being. Stories of California workers are featured at Stronger Jobs, Stronger Communities, along with helpful tools for job seekers and employers.
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California’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 5.4 percent and California’s nonfarm payroll jobs decreased by 6,100 jobs in June 2025, according to the latest Employment Development Department (EDD) data that comes from two separate surveys. June’s job decrease follows a revised, lower job gain of 11,700 for May 2025.
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What You Need to Know: The Employment Development Department is making it easier for Californians to check their Disability Insurance or Paid Family Leave claim status without needing to call the Department. Enhancements to myEDD, its secure web portal, add more information about the status of a customer’s claim — including clear instructions when customers need to take action.
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California’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 5.4 percent and California’s nonfarm payroll jobs decreased by 6,100 jobs in June 2025, according to the latest Employment Development Department (EDD) data that comes from two separate surveys. June’s job decrease follows a revised, lower job gain of 11,700 for May 2025.
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California’s unemployment rate remained at 5.3 percent and California’s nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 17,700 jobs in May 2025, according to the latest Employment Development Department (EDD) data that comes from two separate surveys. May’s job increase follows an upward-revised job gain of 23,100 for April 2025.
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What You Need to Know: California’s healthcare industry has grown by nearly 220,000 jobs since 2020. With that growth, California is experiencing a shortage of health and human services workers, including professionals in behavioral health, primary and specialty care, allied health, nursing, and direct care. The State of California is committed to building a health and human services workforce while providing opportunities for good, high-paying jobs and careers.
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What You Need to Know: This Father’s Day, the Employment Development Department is highlighting the State’s first-in-the-nation Paid Family Leave program. We want to encourage all Californians to visit Paid Family Leave for Fathers to learn more about the valuable financial assistance available when workers need to take time off work to care for their families.
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What You Need to Know: The deadline is Tuesday, June 10, 2025, for Los Angeles County workers, business owners, and self-employed people who lost their jobs or had their work hours substantially reduced as a result of the California firestorms to apply for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA).
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Following the recent launch of a shorter, simpler online application for unemployment benefits, the Employment Development Department just released a new online application for disability benefits—another step in modernizing California’s benefit programs and improving the customer experience. The new application has simpler questions and instructions, more help text, and less complex jargon.
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