California Reduces Unemployment to Pre-Pandemic Levels, Has Created More Jobs Over the Past Year Than Any Other State

California’s economic recovery continues to make incremental gains, with another month of five-figure job growth and the unemployment rate returning to pre-pandemic levels:

• In May, California created 42,900 new jobs, and the unemployment rate went down to 4.3%

• California has now regained 93 percent (2,565,100) of the 2,758,900 nonfarm jobs lost during March and April of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

• Of the 390,000 U.S. nonfarm jobs gained in May, California accounted for 11 percent of them

• At 869,300 jobs, California had the largest absolute year-over seasonally-adjusted job increase in the nation in May 2022

• California has enjoyed month-over gains in nonfarm jobs in 15 of the past 16 months totaling a 1,481,800 job gain over that time period