News
California Fiscal Issues and Information page
California Fiscal Focus
Summary Analysis of General Fund Cash Receipts (2007 - 2014)
December 2014 Cash Report Summary Analysis
California Job Tracker: December 2014
California Job Tracker: December 2014
Published December 9, 2014
State’s Jobs Recovery Continues
California’s economic recovery continues, and that upswing is particularly evident and welcome in our job market.
In October, the latest month for which regional data is available, California swiftly erased the brief 14,000-job loss of the prior month with a strong gain of nearly 42,000 additional positions.
Ten of California’s major metropolitan areas have now recovered all of the jobs lost relative to the peaks reached prior to the Great Recession. (See Figure 8.) The “recovery club” now includes a diverse group. San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego lead, emphasizing the advances in technology and innovation. Bakersfield, Fresno, and Merced reflect some of the recovery in the Central Valley, joined by the agricultural area of El Centro. Napa, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara round out the recovery team. The 10 areas combined represent 28 percent of California’s total nonfarm payrolls.
The dates of the pre-Recession peaks varied across the 2006-08 timeframe. Collectively, the 10 metropolitan areas have now added 225,000 jobs relative to their prior employment highs. The San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City area has led with a job gain of more than 100,000. San Jose has followed with a net growth of more than 75,000 positions.
Certain parts of the state still have not caught up with their pre-Recession highs. Los Angeles and Orange Counties are each about 40,000 jobs off their prior peaks. If average monthly job growth were to match that experienced during the past year, it would take L.A. about nine months to fully recover, whereas about 1 1/2 years would be necessary for Orange County. The other two major metropolitan areas in the State -- the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino counties) and the Sacramento area -- may also need another year to 1 1/2 years before the previous employment high points are achieved.
California has recorded much progress over the past year as job growth has both deepened and widened. That recovery should continue during the coming year, sweeping more of the State’s regions into a full recovery mode.
See raw data: Employment numbers by region
Figure 8: Regions Where Job Recovery Has Topped Pre-Recession Peak
(Nonfarm employment, seasonally adjusted)
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, California Employment Development Department, Fermanian Business and Economic Institute