Local Area Unemployment Statistics, State and Area Employment, JOLTS · California
How is the job market in California?
The unemployment rate in California was 5.1% in the month ended , against 4.2% for the United States.
California, unemployment, each month
- Unemployment rate5.1%3.8% to 16.1%
- Participation rate61.4%59.6% to 63.0%
- Employment-population ratio58.3%50.2% to 60.3%
California, people, each month
- Labor force, thousands19,478.018,560.6 to 19,878.8
- Employed, thousands18,490.415,635.7 to 18,784.9
- Unemployed, thousands987.6725.2 to 3,010.4
California, jobs and pay, each month
- Nonfarm payrolls, thousands18,151.614,921.5 to 18,163.0
- Average hourly earnings$42.58$29.22 to $42.74
- Average weekly hours33.132.6 to 35.8
California, openings and turnover rates, each month
- Job openings rate3.6%2.9% to 7.3%
- Hires rate3.2%2.5% to 6.8%
- Quits rate1.7%1.3% to 2.7%
- Layoffs and discharges rate1.0%0.6% to 8.7%
- Total separations rate2.9%2.7% to 10.8%
Each row is one measure of California over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.
Observed .
California, openings and turnover, each month
- Job openings, thousands674452 to 1,379
- Hires, thousands581443 to 1,026
- Quits, thousands314191 to 479
- Layoffs and discharges, thousands184113 to 1,524
- Total separations, thousands528477 to 1,887
Each row is one measure of California over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.
Observed .
Right now
The unemployment rate in California was 5.1% in September 2026, ranking 2nd highest of 51 among the states and the District of Columbia.
Over a year it is down 0.4 percentage points (ours). The rate for the United States was 4.2% in the same month. The source marks this value preliminary.
The unemployment rate in September 2026 was the lowest since November 2023.
Jobs and payOurs: change and rank
Nonfarm payroll employment was 18,151.6 thousand in September 2026, up 0.7% over a year (ours), 1st highest of 51.
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private payrolls was $42.58 in September 2026, up 1.9% over a year (ours), 4th highest of 51.
Job openings and turnoverOurs: change and rank
The job openings rate was 3.6% in December 2025, up 0.1 percentage points over a year (ours), 36th highest of 51.
The hires rate was 3.2% in December 2025, up 0.3 percentage points over a year (ours), 32nd highest of 51.
The quits rate was 1.7% in December 2025, down 0.2 percentage points over a year (ours), 44th highest of 51.
Understanding the labor market of California
Where it stands today
The unemployment rate in California was 5.1% in September 2026.
What do the figures for California measure?
This page gathers the labor market figures of California that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes: how many people are in the labor force, at work and unemployed, how many payroll jobs there are and what they pay, and how many jobs are open and how many people were hired, quit or lost a job.
Read more
The unemployment figures come from Local Area Unemployment Statistics, a model that BLS runs for each state every month. The payroll jobs, hours and earnings come from a monthly survey of employers, and the job openings and labor turnover from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
What 500metrics adds: each figure's rank among the fifty states and the District of Columbia, its change over a year, the last time it was higher and lower, the nation's figure beside a rate where BLS gives one, and the last ten years of every figure as small charts.
The numbers behind the chart
What are the latest figures for California?19 measures, each in its own newest month
| Measure | Section | Month | Value | Change over a year | Rank | United States | Last higher | Last lower |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | Unemployment | 5.1% | −0.4 pts | 2 of 51 | 4.2% | |||
| Participation rate | Unemployment | 61.4% | −1.1 pts | 29 of 51 | 61.8% | |||
| Employment-population ratio | Unemployment | 58.3% | −0.7 pts | 36 of 51 | 59.2% | |||
| Labor force | People | 19,478.0 thousand | −1.9% | 1 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Employed | People | 18,490.4 thousand | −1.4% | 1 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Unemployed | People | 987.6 thousand | −10.0% | 1 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Nonfarm payrolls | Jobs and pay | 18,151.6 thousand | +0.7% | 1 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Average hourly earnings | Jobs and pay | $42.58 | +1.9% | 4 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Average weekly hours | Jobs and pay | 33.1 hours | +0.6% | 42 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Job openings rate | Openings and turnover rates | 3.6% | +0.1 pts | 36 of 51 | 4.0% | |||
| Hires rate | Openings and turnover rates | 3.2% | +0.3 pts | 32 of 51 | 3.3% | |||
| Quits rate | Openings and turnover rates | 1.7% | −0.2 pts | 44 of 51 | 2.0% | |||
| Layoffs and discharges rate | Openings and turnover rates | 1.0% | +0.1 pts | 19 of 51 | 1.1% | |||
| Total separations rate | Openings and turnover rates | 2.9% | −0.2 pts | 41 of 51 | 3.3% | |||
| Job openings | Openings and turnover | 674 thousand | +3.7% | 1 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Hires | Openings and turnover | 581 thousand | +9.8% | 1 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Quits | Openings and turnover | 314 thousand | −9.0% | 2 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Layoffs and discharges | Openings and turnover | 184 thousand | +12.2% | 1 of 51 | n/a | |||
| Total separations | Openings and turnover | 528 thousand | −4.7% | 1 of 51 | n/a |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
What is the unemployment rate in each county of California?58 counties, September 2026, by name
| County | Rate | A year before | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | 4.7% | 4.9% | −0.2 pts |
| Alpine County | 10.0% | 8.5% | +1.5 pts |
| Amador County | 5.8% | 6.0% | −0.2 pts |
| Butte County | 5.9% | 6.1% | −0.2 pts |
| Calaveras County | 6.2% | 6.3% | −0.1 pts |
| Colusa County | 8.6% | 8.6% | 0.0 pts |
| Contra Costa County | 4.8% | 5.0% | −0.2 pts |
| Del Norte County | 6.0% | 6.2% | −0.2 pts |
| El Dorado County | 5.0% | 5.1% | −0.1 pts |
| Fresno County | 7.4% | 7.6% | −0.2 pts |
| Glenn County | 6.5% | 6.5% | 0.0 pts |
| Humboldt County | 5.2% | 5.2% | 0.0 pts |
| Imperial County | 20.8% | 21.6% | −0.8 pts |
| Inyo County | 4.6% | 4.6% | 0.0 pts |
| Kern County | 7.9% | 8.2% | −0.3 pts |
| Kings County | 8.1% | 8.2% | −0.1 pts |
| Lake County | 7.1% | 7.0% | +0.1 pts |
| Lassen County | 6.2% | 6.1% | +0.1 pts |
| Los Angeles County | 4.5% | 5.9% | −1.4 pts |
| Madera County | 7.0% | 7.0% | 0.0 pts |
| Marin County | 4.3% | 4.5% | −0.2 pts |
| Mariposa County | 5.5% | 5.2% | +0.3 pts |
| Mendocino County | 5.2% | 5.6% | −0.4 pts |
| Merced County | 8.1% | 8.4% | −0.3 pts |
| Modoc County | 6.1% | 5.9% | +0.2 pts |
Show 33 more rows
| County | Rate | A year before | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County | 4.4% | 4.4% | 0.0 pts |
| Monterey County | 5.5% | 5.5% | 0.0 pts |
| Napa County | 4.2% | 4.3% | −0.1 pts |
| Nevada County | 4.8% | 4.9% | −0.1 pts |
| Orange County | 4.3% | 4.4% | −0.1 pts |
| Placer County | 4.4% | 4.5% | −0.1 pts |
| Plumas County | 5.6% | 5.6% | 0.0 pts |
| Riverside County | 5.9% | 6.1% | −0.2 pts |
| Sacramento County | 5.1% | 5.3% | −0.2 pts |
| San Benito County | 5.7% | 5.9% | −0.2 pts |
| San Bernardino County | 5.5% | 5.7% | −0.2 pts |
| San Diego County | 4.7% | 4.9% | −0.2 pts |
| San Francisco County/city | 4.0% | 4.3% | −0.3 pts |
| San Joaquin County | 6.2% | 6.5% | −0.3 pts |
| San Luis Obispo County | 4.6% | 4.7% | −0.1 pts |
| San Mateo County | 3.9% | 4.1% | −0.2 pts |
| Santa Barbara County | 4.5% | 4.6% | −0.1 pts |
| Santa Clara County | 4.2% | 4.5% | −0.3 pts |
| Santa Cruz County | 5.1% | 5.4% | −0.3 pts |
| Shasta County | 5.2% | 5.4% | −0.2 pts |
| Sierra County | 4.1% | 4.7% | −0.6 pts |
| Siskiyou County | 6.7% | 6.5% | +0.2 pts |
| Solano County | 5.3% | 5.5% | −0.2 pts |
| Sonoma County | 4.3% | 4.6% | −0.3 pts |
| Stanislaus County | 6.6% | 6.8% | −0.2 pts |
| Sutter County | 7.1% | 7.3% | −0.2 pts |
| Tehama County | 5.9% | 6.1% | −0.2 pts |
| Trinity County | 5.4% | 5.4% | 0.0 pts |
| Tulare County | 9.8% | 10.0% | −0.2 pts |
| Tuolumne County | 5.5% | 5.5% | 0.0 pts |
| Ventura County | 4.9% | 5.1% | −0.2 pts |
| Yolo County | 5.5% | 5.6% | −0.1 pts |
| Yuba County | 6.5% | 6.7% | −0.2 pts |
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- The unemployment figures of a state are estimates from a model, not a count. BLS revises the latest months as more data arrive and revises the past years every March.
- The payroll figures are estimates from a survey of employers. BLS revises them twice after the first release and once a year, when it benchmarks them to the count of jobs covered by unemployment insurance. Average hourly earnings and average weekly hours are for all employees on private payrolls and are not seasonally adjusted.
- The state figures of job openings and labor turnover come from a survey whose estimates for a single state have a larger sampling error than the nation's. Each figure shows its own newest month, which can be older than the month of the unemployment rate.
- A rank is among the fifty states and the District of Columbia in the same month, highest value first, and a large state ranks high on a count of people or jobs. The changes, the ranks and the months a figure was last higher and lower are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes.
- The county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so each county's rate is set beside its own rate a year before.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Current Population Survey; State and Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings; Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey), labor market of California, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How is the job market in California?", https://500metrics.com/states/california.
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