May 1, 2026
Beacon Employment Report | California
Presented by Beacon Economics
Copyright © Beacon Economics LLC
Beacon Economics publishes a variety of online reports that analyze and forecast the U.S., California, and California regional economies. These publications provide users with the latest data, and with substantive commentary on the overall direction of the economy, employment and unemployment, international trade, real estate markets, consumer and business spending, and much more. The reports represent only a sampling of the kind of analysis Beacon Economics produces.
California Employment Rebounds
Unemployment Rate Edges Down
28,700
Monthly Job Gain
California’s payroll jobs increased in March (the latest data), partially driven by the end of a major strike at Kaiser Permanente, according to an analysis released today by Beacon Economics. The strike had weighed on February’s figures, but March showed a rebound as people went back to work.
Total nonfarm employment in the state rose to a seasonally adjusted 18,154,200 in March, an increase of 28,700 positions over the month. February’s numbers were also revised up, to an 18,800 loss instead of the preliminary estimate’s 19,900 decline.
5.3%
Unemployment Rate
On an annual basis, California increased payrolls by 0.8% from March 2025 to March 2026, outpacing an 0.2% increase nationally over the same period. The state’s labor market continues to be supported primarily by locally serving industries such as Health Care and Leisure and Hospitality. Without the state’s sizeable gains in Health Care, employment levels would be down 7,100 over the past year.
California’s unemployment rate edged down to 5.3% in March, a 0.1 percentage-point decline from February. The state’s unemployment rate has also fallen by 0.1 percentage-points over the last year, while the nation’s rate as ticked up 0.1 percentage-points.
56,700
Labor Supply Decline
California’s labor supply is fell by 56,700 month-over-month in March. Over the past year, the state’s labor force has decreased by just 14,000 workers, a 0.1% decline and more modest than the 0.3% drop nationally. The state’s chronic housing shortage and, more recently, lower levels of international migration to the United States, continue to constrain labor supply growth.
(If you are unable to view the graphics in the Beacon Employment Report, please check your cookie settings.)
The Beacon Employment Report | California is a unique analysis of California’s employment numbers and trends. Each month, we link our own econometric predictions to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the California Employment Development Department to identify important changes in employment across industries and regions. The Beacon Employment Report is also one of the few analyses that uses seasonally adjusted numbers, which are critical to revealing accurate trends and insights within data. The analysis is a sample of the kind of research available from Beacon Economics.
The contents of this report are based on information derived from carefully selected sources Beacon Economics believe are reasonable. We do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness and nothing presented here shall be construed to be a representation of such a guarantee.
More
Information
For information about Beacon’s practice areas, please contact:
Business Development Team at [email protected]
or 424-666-2165