Español

Print

California Gained 5,200 Nonfarm Payroll Jobs in April 2024

Published:

NR No. 24-18
Contact: Loree Levy/Aubrey Henry
916-654-9029
mediainquiries@edd.ca.gov

Important Note: The employment data for the month of April 2024 is taken from the survey week including April 12. Data for May is scheduled for release on June 21, 2024.

Unemployment Rate Remains Unchanged for Third Consecutive Month

SACRAMENTO – California’s employers added 5,200 nonfarm payroll jobs1 in April 2024 and the unemployment rate remained unchanged for a third consecutive month holding steady at 5.3 percent2, according to data released by the Employment Development Department (EDD). April’s job gain follows a revised job gain of 18,200 for March 2024.

The California unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in April 2024, which is the same as the previous month.
California payroll jobs totaled 17,991,300 in April 2024, up 5,200 from March. and up 206,500 from April. of last year.

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

  • The State’s jobs market expansion entered its 48th month in April 2024. Since April 2020, California has gained 3,057,800 jobs, which averages out to 63,704 per month.
  • The state’s current job growth started in August 2023 and has amounted to a total gain of 200,300 jobs. This reflects a rebound from the slowdown during the prior 10 months as the state economy settled following its dramatic post-pandemic recovery.
  • Five of California's 11 industry sectors gained jobs in April with Private Education & Health Services (+11,900) posting the largest month-over gain for the fourth consecutive month.
  • Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+5,100) also showed noticeable growth as above-average gains were seen in the Truck Transportation and the Couriers and Messengers industry groups.
  • Construction (-6,000) saw a small reduction in jobs due to lingering stormy weather conditions affecting construction projects across the state. The industry remains up 15,100 jobs over the year.

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 (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 amounted to 17,991,300 in April – a net gain of 5,200 from March. This followed a downward revised (-10,100) month-over gain of 18,200 jobs in March.
  • Year-over – Total nonfarm jobs increased by 206,500 (a 1.2 percent increase) from April 2023 to April 2024 compared to the U.S. annual gain of 2,802,000 jobs (a 1.8 percent increase)

 

Major Industries Month-over Change (March 2024–April 2024) Year-over Change (April 2023–April 2024) Total Payroll Jobs as of April 2024

Private Education and Health Services

+11,900 +178,700 3,228,900

Trade, Transp., Utilities

+5,100 -11,400 3,103,200

Leisure and Hospitality

+3,100 -+35,100 2,033,600

Government

+2,600 +61,300 2,653,300

Other Services

0 +17,800 599,400

Information

-600 -43,000 531,100

Financial Activities 

-1,400 -13,900 801,600

Professional and Business Services

-4,300 -10,800 2,776,000

Manufacturing

-5,300 -22,800 1,313,800

Construction

-6,000 +15,100 920,500

Total Farm Jobs – While the number of jobs in the agriculture industry decreased from by 11,700 from March to a total of 414,700 jobs in April, the agriculture industry did have 30,800 more farm jobs in April 2024 than it did in April 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 April was 18,319,100, an increase of 5,800 persons from March’s total of 18,313,300, but down 115,100 from the employment total in April 2023.
  • Unemployed – The number of unemployed Californians was 1,027,000 in April, a decrease of 5,900 over the month, and up 164,700 in comparison to April 2023. This is the second time in five months the total unemployed has declined.
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 19,346,100 in April 2024, down 100 from March but up 49,500 from April of last year.
California Labor Force Month-over Change (March 2024–April 2024) Year-over Change (April 2023–April 2024)
* Civilian Labor Force (19,346,100) -100 +49,600
Total Civilian Employment (18,319,100) +5,800 -115,100
Unemployment (1,027,000) -5,900 +164,700

* 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 411,413 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits during the April 2024 sample week. That compares to 446,130 people in March and 427,741 people in April 2023. Concurrently, 45,136 initial claims were processed in the April 2024 sample week, which was a month-over increase of 4,136 claims from March and a year-over increase of 2,799 claims from April 2023.

In April 2024, there were 411,413 people receiving unemployment insurance benefits, down 34,717 from March and down 16,328 from April of last year. Additionally, there were 45,316 new unemployment insurance claims in April 2024, up 4,136 from March and up 2,799 from April of last year.

California Unemployment Insurance Claims Month-over Change (March 2024–April 2024) Year-over Change (April 2023–April 2024)
UI Recipients (411,413) -34,717 -16,328
New UI Claims (45,136) +4,136 +2,799

 

MONTHLY LABOR FORCE DATA FOR COUNTIES
April 2024 (Preliminary); 2023 Benchmark
NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED
COUNTY LABOR FORCE EMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
STATE TOTAL 19,213,200 18,281,900 931,400 4.8%
ALAMEDA 819,300 783,700 35,700 4.4%
ALPINE 580 550 30 5.5%
AMADOR 14,460 13,710 750 5.2%
BUTTE 92,600 87,300 5,300 5.7%
CALAVERAS 22,190 21,140 1,040 4.7%
COLUSA 10,790 9,120 1,660 15.4%
CONTRA COSTA 546,700 522,600 24,100 4.4%
DEL NORTE 9,040 8,520 520 5.8%
EL DORADO 94,500 90,500 4,000 4.2%
FRESNO 462,500 423,500 38,900 8.4%
GLENN 12,690 11,820 870 6.8%
HUMBOLDT 60,100 57,200 2,900 4.9%
IMPERIAL 71,500 60,300 11,200 15.7%
INYO 8,420 8,100 320 3.8%
KERN 396,800 360,000 36,800 9.3%
KINGS 58,900 53,500 5,400 9.2%
LAKE 28,400 26,710 1,690 6.0%
LASSEN 8,580 8,060 520 6.1%
LOS ANGELES 4,968,200 4,743,800 224,300 4.5%
MADERA 65,100 59,700 5,400 8.3%
MARIN 131,300 126,800 4,500 3.4%
MARIPOSA 7,340 6,950 390 5.4%
MENDOCINO 37,320 35,450 1,870 5.0%
MERCED 120,500 107,800 12,700 10.5%
MODOC 3,240 3,010 230 7.1%
MONO 9,170 8,840 330 3.6%
MONTEREY 222,400 204,600 17,800 8.0%
NAPA 72,000 69,300 2,700 3.8%
NEVADA 48,900 46,860 2,050 4.2%
ORANGE 1,580,400 1,522,600 57,800 3.7%
PLACER 196,100 188,400 7,700 3.9%
PLUMAS 7,270 6,610 660 9.1%
RIVERSIDE 1,151,100 1,095,200 55,900 4.9%
SACRAMENTO 735,300 702,000 33,300 4.5%
SAN BENITO 32,200 30,000 2,200 6.7%
SAN BERNARDINO 1,008,100 960,100 47,900 4.8%
SAN DIEGO 1,588,000 1,522,700 65,200 4.1%
SAN FRANCISCO 552,700 533,700 19,000 3.4%
SAN JOAQUIN 346,700 323,800 22,900 6.6%
SAN LUIS OBISPO 135,700 130,900 4,800 3.5%
SAN MATEO 437,500 423,200 14,300 3.3%
SANTA BARBARA 220,000 210,700 9,300 4.2%
SANTA CLARA 1,025,800 986,600 39,200 3.8%
SANTA CRUZ 132,400 123,500 8,900 6.7%
SHASTA 74,200 70,100 4,100 5.5%
SIERRA 1,310 1,230 90 6.5%
SISKIYOU 16,270 15,180 1,090 6.7%
SOLANO 203,400 193,400 10,000 4.9%
SONOMA 248,700 239,100 9,600 3.8%
STANISLAUS 247,700 230,300 17,400 7.0%
SUTTER 47,700 43,500 4,200 8.8%
TEHAMA 25,840 24,210 1,630 6.3%
TRINITY 4,520 4,230 290 6.5%
TULARE 214,700 191,500 23,200 10.8%
TUOLUMNE 19,760 18,690 1,080 5.5%
VENTURA 413,400 395,900 17,500 4.2%
YOLO 110,600 105,000 5,600 5.1%
YUBA 32,600 30,200 2,400 7.3%