Trying to find a job in California? It’s getting harder as hiring growth slows in state
California’s economy is officially slowing down.
California added 6,500 jobs last month, well below the totals of recent months as the state roared back from the COVID-triggered downturns of 2020 and 2021, the state’s Employment Development Department reported Friday.
The state has been averaging about 60,000 new jobs per month over the past year.
Biggest month-to-month drops were in government and transportation, trade and utilities.
“California’s economy continued to cool off in September,” said Sung Won Sohn, president of SS Economics in Los Angeles.
The state’s unemployment rate in September was still a healthy 3.9%, tied with July’s rate for the lowest level in a data series that goes back to 1976. The rate, though, was still slightly above the national average of 3.5%.
But the underlying data showed a potentially worrisome trend.
The employment numbers are the “first clear indications ... that the easy job growth in California over the past two years, is ending, especially in white collar and tech jobs,” said Michael Bernick, a former EDD director and now an employment attorney at Duane Morris LLP.
The Federal Reserve has for months been trying to bring down the rate of inflation, a process that economists believe is pushing the nation close to a recession.
In California, the latest UCLA Anderson forecast, released last month, projects the state’s jobless rate rising to 5.2% next fall.
Sohn also saw tougher times ahead.
“A looming recession will limit California’s employment gains in coming months. Three key areas — international trade, real estate, and the stock market — will be adversely affected,” he said. “The global economic slowdown, especially in China, will slow trade flows reducing employment in the related areas.”
The new state jobs report offers two different sorts of glimpses at California’s employment picture.
California has now regained 99.1% of the 2.75 million jobs lost during the height of the pandemic in March and April of 2020. And last month was the 12th straight month of non-farm job gains, which now number 712,000 during that period.
But of the 11 employment sectors in the report, only five gained jobs last month. Topping the list was education & health services, “thanks to strength in payrolls within Colleges, Universities, & Professional Schools,” EDD reported.
Also gaining significantly was the leisure and hospitality sector, which was aided by employment in catering and food trucks.
But the state lost 16,000 government jobs, “due to weakness in local government hiring outside of education,” EDD said, such as reductions in administration and services.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 10:43 AM.
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