California's Employment Development Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released California's October 2019 state jobs report Friday. Statewide nonfarm employment grew by an estimated 23,600 in October. The official unemployment rate dropped from 4.0 percent to 3.9 percent, the modern series low. California employers have added at least 16,000 jobs in each of the last nine months, and at least 20,000 in eight of the nine.
The figure below summarizes nonfarm employment by sector based on the monthly survey of employers. While the state’s job market saw broad-based growth in October, the high-paying information and professional/technical services sectors (which together include most of the state’s tech firms) both lost jobs. If that trend continues, it could portend a broader slowdown. Overall employment in the state has grown 1.8 percent over the previous 12 months, somewhat ahead of the national pace of 1.4 percent.
