Highlights for policy makers:
- Unemployment Rate Declines to 5.5%; Total Employment Grows 62,400
- Nonfarm Jobs Increase 39,900
- Two-Tier Economy Persists
Unemployment Rate Declines to 5.5%; Total Employment Grows 62,400
The Labor Force data for February 2016 (seasonally adjusted; California preliminary) is shown below, along with the change from the prior month:
| Seasonally Adjusted | California | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2016 | Change from Jan 2016 | Feb 2016 | Change from Jan 2016 | |
| Unemployment Rate | 5.5 | -0.2 | 4.9 | 0.0 |
| Labor Force | 19,045,100 | 0.1% | 158,890,000 | 0.4% |
| Participation Rate | n/a | n/a | 62.9 | 0.2 |
| Employment | 17,992,100 | 0.3% | 151,074,000 | 0.4% |
| Unemployment | 1,053,000 | -3.3% | 7,815,000 | 0.3% |
The related not seasonally adjusted numbers (California preliminary), with the change from February 2015:
| Not Seasonally Adjusted | California | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2016 | Change from Feb 2015 | Feb 2016 | Change from Feb 2015 | |
| Unemployment Rate | 5.7 | -1.1 | 5.2 | -0.6 |
| Labor Force | 19,039,100 | 0.7% | 158,279,000 | 1.3% |
| Participation Rate | n/a | n/a | 62.7 | 0.2 |
| Employment | 17,959,800 | 1.9% | 150,060,000 | 2.0% |
| Unemployment | 1,079,300 | -16.4% | 8,219,000 | -9.6% |
California Employment Development Department’s (EDD) latest release shows on a seasonally adjusted basis, total employment grew by 62,400 from January, while the number of unemployed dropped by 36,300. California’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined from 5.7% in January to 5.5% in February. The unadjusted rate decreased from 6.8% in February 2015 to 5.7% in February 2016.
Total US employment saw a seasonally adjusted increase of 530,000, while the number of unemployed increased by 24,000. California provided 11.8% of the total national employment increase.
California’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.6% higher than the national rate.
Looking at the unadjusted numbers, California’s labor force increased 0.7% for the year, while nationally, the labor force expanded at nearly double the rate at 1.3%.
Nonfarm Jobs Increase by 39,900
EDD reported that between January and February 2016, seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 39,900. January’s losses were revised downwards slightly to a loss of 4,000 from the previously reported loss of 1,500.
Looking at the not seasonally adjusted numbers, the biggest changes in total payroll jobs from January 2016 were in Construction (12,300; $60.4k average annual salary), Accommodation & Food Services (10,000; $21.2k), Health Care & Social Assistance (8,600; $47.3k), and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (8,300, $54.5k). Biggest declines were in Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (-4,700; $58.2k), Professional, Scientific & Technical Services (-4,300; $109.1k), and Retail Trade (-2,000; $33.8k). All salary numbers are the latest 4-quarter average from Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages.
| Not Seasonally Adjusted Payroll Jobs | Jan 2016 | Feb 2016 | Change Feb 2016 – Jan 2016 | Change Feb 2016 – Feb 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Farm | 356,900 | 363,700 | 6,800 | 1,500 |
| Mining & Logging | 26,000 | 25,700 | -300 | -3,300 |
| Construction | 727,800 | 740,000 | 12,200 | 52,400 |
| Manufacturing | 1,272,400 | 1,274,400 | 2,000 | -2,700 |
| Wholesale Trade | 726,900 | 728,400 | 1,500 | 16,900 |
| Retail Trade | 1,684,100 | 1,656,000 | -28,100 | 27,700 |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | 562,100 | 555,400 | -6,700 | 21,100 |
| Information | 482,700 | 497,700 | 15,000 | 22,100 |
| Finance & Insurance | 526,700 | 526,100 | -600 | 4,700 |
| Real Estate & Rental & Leasing | 269,800 | 271,300 | 1,500 | 6,200 |
| Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 1,224,300 | 1,233,700 | 9,400 | 42,100 |
| Management of Companies & Enterprises | 231,400 | 232,100 | 700 | 3,900 |
| Administrative & Support & Waste Services | 1,045,600 | 1,047,100 | 1,500 | 26,000 |
| Educational Services | 348,800 | 370,800 | 22,000 | 16,300 |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 2,144,800 | 2,157,100 | 12,300 | 84,800 |
| Individual & Family Services | 584,600 | 588,600 | 4,000 | 29,800 |
| Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation | 280,400 | 291,400 | 11,000 | 18,300 |
| Accommodation & Food Service | 1,541,100 | 1,559,000 | 17,900 | 61,600 |
| Other Services | 539,900 | 548,500 | 8,600 | 11,700 |
| Government | 2,483,300 | 2,504,700 | 21,400 | 38,700 |
| Total Nonfarm | 16,118,100 | 16,219,400 | 101,300 | 448,500 |
| Total Wage & Salary | 16,475,000 | 16,583,100 | 108,100 | 450,000 |
Two-Tier Economy Persists
13 counties are in double-digit unemployment, while 14 are 5% or less.
Unemployment rates (all data is not seasonally adjusted) continue to vary widely across the state, ranging from 3.9% in the Bay Area to more than double at 10.5% in the Central Valley.
By Legislative District:
| Lowest 10 Unemployment Rates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SD 13 (Hill – D) | 2.9 | AD 16 (Baker – R) | 2.8 |
| SD 11 (Leno – D) | 3.3 | AD 22 (Mullin – D) | 2.8 |
| SD 37 (Moorlach – R) | 3.4 | AD 24 (Gordon – D) | 3.0 |
| SD 39 (Block – D) | 3.7 | AD 28 (Low – D) | 3.1 |
| SD 36 (Bates – R) | 3.8 | AD 17 (Chiu – D) | 3.3 |
| SD 15 (Beall – D) | 4.0 | AD 19 (Ting – D) | 3.3 |
| SD 07 (Glazer – D) | 4.0 | AD 74 (Harper – R) | 3.3 |
| SD 26 (Allen – D) | 4.1 | AD 77 (Maienschein – R) | 3.4 |
| SD 10 (Wieckowski – D) | 4.1 | AD 73 (Brough – R) | 3.4 |
| SD 29 (Huff – R) | 4.4 | AD 68 (Wagner – R) | 3.5 |
| Highest 10 Unemployment Rates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SD 33 (Lara – D) | 6.4 | AD 34 (Grove – R) | 8.9 |
| SD 35 (Hall – D) | 6.6 | AD 03 (Gallagher – R) | 9.0 |
| SD 17 (Monning – D) | 6.7 | AD 30 (Alejo – D) | 9.2 |
| SD 04 (Nielsen – R) | 7.3 | AD 23 (Patterson – R) | 9.3 |
| SD 05 (Galgiani – D) | 8.6 | AD 13 (Eggman – D) | 9.4 |
| SD 40 (Hueso – D) | 8.7 | AD 56 (Garcia – D) | 11.3 |
| SD 08 (Berryhill – R) | 8.8 | AD 26 (Mathis – R) | 11.8 |
| SD 16 (Fuller – R) | 9.3 | AD 31 (Vacant – D) | 11.9 |
| SD 12 (Cannella – R) | 11.2 | AD 21 (Gray – D) | 12.1 |
| SD 14 (Vidak – R) | 13.4 | AD 32 (Salas – D) | 13.2 |
Note: All data sources, methodologies, and historical data series available at CenterforJobs.org.