SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California employers added more than 100,000 jobs in May for the fourth month in a row.
Numbers released Friday by the Employment Development Department (EDD) show California has regained more than half of the 2.7 million jobs it lost at the start of the pandemic.
The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 7.9% from 8% in April. It’s still one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. In May 2020, the unemployment rate was at 15.6%
Moreover, of the 1.4 million jobs California has regained since last year, a third of them have come from the leisure and hospitality industry. Nine out of 11 industry sectors in California saw job growths in the May 2021 report.
Officials say there's a long way to go despite the job gains in the past few months. For example, the construction industry lost roughly 1,600 jobs due to losses in non-residential construction.
The unemployment rate comes from a separate federal survey of 5,100 California households. The employment data for May 2021 is taken from the survey, including the week of May 12, 2021. The data for June 2021 is scheduled to be released on July 16, 2021.
For the full May 2021 labor statistics news release, which includes local data and industry job trends, check out the EDD website.
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