California’s employers kept up their hiring run in August, adding 36,200 nonfarm payroll jobs and pushing down the unemployment rate to 6.1%.
That’s a slight drop from July’s jobless rate of 6.2%, and the lowest level since January 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationwide, the jobless rate slid to 5.1% in August, down from 5.3% the month before.
“California scored another impressive gain in jobs,” said Lynn Reaser, an economist at Point Loma Nazarene University. “Despite various head winds, especially those caused by the slowdown in China and emerging markets, California’s economy continues to show solid momentum.”
California added more jobs than any other state, including Florida, which came in second with a gain of 19,600 positions.
Since August 2014, California has gained 470,000 jobs, a 3% annual growth rate that has outpaced the national average of 2.1%. A year ago, the state unemployment rate was 7.4%.
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