California’s July unemployment rate remains constant from June

NR No. 23-33
Contact: Loree Levy/Aubrey Henry
916-654-9029
mediainquiries@edd.ca.gov

IMPORTANT NOTE: The employment data for the month of July 2023 is taken from the survey week including July 12th. Data for the month of Aug. is scheduled for release on Sept. 15, 2023.

Employers added 27,900 nonfarm payroll jobs 

SACRAMENTO – California’s unemployment rate remained at 4.6 percent¹, which is the same rate as in June 2023, as the state’s employers added 27,900 nonfarm payroll jobs² to the economy, according to data released today by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) from two surveys. Total nonfarm employment for June 2023 was revised down by 1,700 jobs.

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

• Since the current economic expansion began in April 2020, California has gained 3,198,100 jobs, which averages out to a gain of 82,003 jobs per month.
• California’s July nonfarm job gain was 14.9 percent of the national job gain of 187,000, surpassing the state’s 11.6 percent share of the U.S. total nonfarm employment.
• Seven of California’s 11 industry sectors gained jobs in July with Government (+15,000) showing the largest increase thanks to above-average gains in Federal Government and Local Government Excluding Education.
• Private Education and Health Services (+10,800) also recorded good gains thanks to strength in Heath Care and Social Assistance.
• Gains in Leisure & Hospitality (+10,300) mostly came from Restaurants and Other Eating Places. In reaching 2,061,800 jobs as of July, this industry sector, the hardest hit during the Pandemic, has fully recovered from its April 2020 low of 1,062,000 jobs.
• Professional and Business Services (-11,400) posted the largest month-over loss due to weakness in the Employment Services industry group as well as above-average losses in Computer System Design and Related 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 18,116,100 in July – a net gain of 27,900 from June. This followed a downward revised (-1,700) month-over gain of 9,900 jobs in June.
• Year-over – Total nonfarm jobs increased by 363,600 (a 2.0 percent increase) from July 2022 to July 2023 compared to the U.S. annual gain of 3,362,000 jobs (a 2.2 percent increase).

Total Farm jobs – The number of jobs in the agriculture industry decreased from June by 8,700 to a total of 431,800 jobs in July. The agricultural industry had 7,300 more farm jobs in July 2023 than it did in July 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 July was 18,537,400, a decrease of 17,000 persons from June’s total of 18,554,400, but up 31,300 from the employment total in July.
• Unemployed – The number of unemployed Californians was 884,600 in July, a decrease of 4,700 over the month, but up 152,400 in comparison to July 2022.

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 401,745 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the July 2023 sample week. That compares to 384,841 people in June and 316,263 people in July 2022. Concurrently, 43,753 initial claims were processed in the July 2023 sample week, which was a month-over increase of 298 claims from June and a year-over increase of 3,574 claims from July 2022.