California's Employment Development Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released California's July 2020 state jobs report today. Statewide nonfarm employment rose by an estimated 140,400 in July, and the June increase was revised downward from 558,200 to 542,500. The official unemployment rate was 13.3 percent, down from 14.9 percent in June but far above the estimate of 3.9 in February before the COVID-19 pandemic caused large-scale upheavals. The survey reflects job changes through the week of July 12 to July 18. California accounted for 8.0 percent of the national estimate of 1.8 million net jobs gained in July, below its 11.5 percent of the nation’s total payroll jobs as of February.
The figure below summarizes nonfarm employment by sector based on the monthly survey of employers. Overall employment in the state as of the middle of July was 10.3 percent below the level of February, somewhat worse than the national figure of 8.4 percent. California’s leisure and hospitality sector recovered fewer than 6,000 jobs in July compared to nearly 600,000 nationwide. Excluding this sector, the state accounted for 11.5 percent of July nationwide job growth, exactly in line with its share of total jobs in February.
