Unemployment for Golden State remains unchanged for April

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California’s unemployment rate of 5.3% has held steady for three months and remains the highest in the country.

The monthly update from the state’s Employment Development Department comes a week after Governor Gavin Newsom revealed his updated budget that drew down the expected deficit to $27.6 billion.

California is the worst state for unemployment — 51st, when the District of Columbus is included. The Dakotas are tied for first place at 2% unemployment, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There were 1,027,000 unemployed Californians in April. That’s a drop of 5,900 from the prior month, but up 164,700 when compared to April 2023.

During an April sample week, 411,413 people certified for unemployment insurance. There were 446,130 people who certified during March’s sample week and 427,741 in April 2023.

April’s sample week shows the state processed 45,136 initial claims. That’s an increase of 4,136 claims from March and 2,799 more than April 2023.

The counties with the three highest rates of unemployment remained unchanged, but showed improvement.

Imperial County dropped to 15.7% in April from 16.1% the month before. Colusa County’s unemployment rate in April was 15.4%, compared to 19.2% the prior month. Tulare County came in third with 10.8%, dropping from March’s rate of 12%.

San Mateo County had the lowest unemployment rate in April at 3.3%. Marin and San Francisco counties tied for second at 3.4%. San Luis Obispo rounded out the top three at 3.5%.

There were 18,319,000 employed Californians in April, a climb of 5,800 people from March. However, it’s a drop of 115,100 from April 2023.

There were 17,991,300 non-farm jobs in April. Revised numbers show that’s an increase of 5,200 from March.

Year over year, California saw 206,500 more jobs from April 2023 to April 2024 — a 1.2% increase. There was a 1.8% increase nationwide.   

The state’s total number of farm jobs dropped to 414,700 in April, a decrease of 11,700 from the month before. However, April had 30,800 more farm jobs than a year ago.

Five of the state’s 11 industry sectors saw job growth in April.

Private education and health services saw the biggest climb, with 11,900 new jobs. It’s the largest month-over-month gain four months in a row.

Trade, transportation and utilities saw 5,100 jobs added in April, with better-than-average growth in truck transportation, as well as the couriers and messengers group.

Seasonally late storms affected the construction industry, leading to a 6,000-job loss in projects across the Golden State. However, that industry is up 15,100 jobs compared to this time last year.

The April unemployment numbers come a week after Newsom revealed his “May revise,” the phrase used for the updated budget released this time each year. The May budget reflects information gained from April’s tax receipts.

Saying in January that the state had a deficit of $38 billion, Newsom this month said that shortfall has since been lowered to $27.6 billion. A big part of that is because of “early action” moves taken by lawmakers. They include pulling back one-time allocations that haven’t yet been spent and shifting dollars.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office’s deficit estimate has changed over the months. It initially said it was around $58 billion, later raising that to $73 billion. On Friday, it pointed to the early action as one reason it’s now saying the deficit is $55 billion.

The difference in the governor and analyst’s estimates stem from calculations in the minimum spending required under Proposition 98, which provides funding to education.

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