California’s October unemployment rate rose to 4.8%, up 0.1 percentage point from September, as employers registered a one-month increase of 40,200 new jobs. jobs compared to 8,700 in September, according to the California Employment Development Department (EDD). Golden State has added 3,236,900 new employees for an average monthly gain of 77,069 jobs since April 2020, the beginning of the current economic expansion.
October’s work data from the survey week, including October 12, was drawn from two separate federal surveys. One is the household survey. The other is a survey of businesses.
Jeffrey Michael is the director of public policy programs and professor of public policy at Pacific McGeorge School of Law. “The household survey shows a slight decrease in the number of people in the workforce and holding jobs,” he told The Center Square in an email, “with the unemployment rate rising but still below 5%. The tight job market has eased gradually over the past year but remains resilient to broader economic pressures from higher interest rates, geopolitical risks, and turmoil in labor.
California’s gain of 40,200 nonfarm new hires in October accounted for 26.8% of US employment gained by 150,000 for the month, according to the EDD. In October, 10 of California’s 11 industrial sectors added nonfarm payroll jobs, compared to five sectors that had employment gains in September.
Private education and health services gained 13,200 new employees in October. Again, private education and health services are the leading sectors for job creation due to the acquisition of the outpatient care sector, nursing care facilities, and individual and family services. This sector gained 152,400 new employees between October 2022 and October 2023.
Business, transportation, and utilities employers in California registered the second-highest job creation in October, adding 6,900 new employees. This sector had a year-over-year gain of 12,500 new employees, according to the EDD.
California leisure and hospitality employers hired 5,100 new workers in October. This sector has been devastated by business closures and employee layoffs during the government’s “shelter in place” pandemic restrictions. In Newsom, there was a one-year change in 90,000 payroll jobs, according to the EDD.
California’s construction sector added 4,500 new jobs in October, compared to 2,200 in September, and has gained 21,000 jobs since October 2022, according to the EDD. The Federal Reserve Bank’s monetary policy of raising interest rates to combat inflation, or a general increase in prices, is likely to slow hiring despite the central bank’s mission to support job growth and stabilize prices.
California manufacturing employers gained 3,400 new jobs in October after shedding 4,600 jobs in September. Manufacturing employment has lost 10,000 jobs since October 2022.
Agricultural employers shed 800 jobs in October after adding 800 in September, according to the EDD. Meanwhile, a water management strategy called “flood-managed aquifer recharge, or flood-MAR,” which manages excess flooding on farms, promises to replenish groundwater, the California Farm Bureau reports.
