California's unemployment rate held steady last month and the overall employment picture looked considerably brighter than earlier this year, according to new government data released Friday.
Still, the state's unemployment rate, at 5.2 percent, is tied with Nevada's for the highest in the country; the national jobless figure averaged 4.1 percent last month.
But with 22,500 jobs added during the month, California is on par with the rest of the nation.
And the number of jobless people in the state fell for a third straight month in June, dipping below 1 million for the first time this year, according to seasonally adjusted data from the state Employment Development Department.
Importantly, some key economic drivers, especially in Southern California, saw notable gains or improvements.
Statewide, transportation and warehousing employers added nearly 7,000 jobs last month, marking the first year-over-year increase in payroll growth since January 2023.
“It's a good sign for the Inland Empire,” said Manfred Keil, an economics professor at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, referring to the large number of warehouses and distribution centers that cover parts of the counties east of Los Angeles.
He noted that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been busier this year, in part because of the diversion of cargo to the West Coast from the drought-stricken Panama Canal. That has given a boost to the region’s logistics industry, which Keil said has been recovering after a long period of pandemic-related ups and downs. “The adjustment is over,” he said.
Southern California also saw a ray of hope in the latest film industry employment data.
Employment in the motion picture and sound recording industries rose by 3,000 jobs last month to 121,200 statewide. While that figure is not adjusted for seasonal variations, data from recent months suggest employment may be improving after steep declines for much of the past two years amid industry labor strikes, streaming wars and other challenges.
Overall, California job growth in June was led by the combined trade and transportation, government and information sector, which includes entertainment jobs, according to the EDD.
Health care and social assistance, long the biggest job creators in the state and nation, took a brief pause in June.
Payrolls in hotels and restaurants, as well as in all leisure and hospitality companies, remained stable.
And there were sharp losses in the state's construction and manufacturing industries, which have been shedding jobs for much of the year.
Furthermore, employment in the technology sector remains mediocre.
At the state level, for example, payrolls at computer systems and design companies declined in June compared to the same month last year for the 16th consecutive month. And Elon Musk's recent announcement that he plans to move SpaceX and X to Texas won't help.
If he goes ahead with his plan, Musk’s move would complete “the hollowing out of the once vibrant tech hub in the mid-market San Francisco area,” said Michael Bernick, an employment lawyer at Duane Morris in San Francisco. “X’s exit completes the exodus started by Uber in 2019, followed by Block (formerly Square) in 2022 and Reddit in 2023,” he said.
Across all industries, the number of jobs in California increased by 224,000 in June, or 1.3%, from a year earlier. That compares with a 1.7% growth rate for the country as a whole, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
