April 3, 2026
Beacon Employment Report | California
Presented by Beacon Economics
Copyright © Beacon Economics LLC
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
- The Health Care sector led growth over the last year, with payrolls expanding by 175,100 or 5.9%. Other sectors posting strong gains over the year were Leisure and Hospitality (37,300 or 1.9%), Education (17,000 or 4.0%), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (15,400 or 1.1%), and Other Services (14,700 or 2.5%).
- The Government sector led declines over the last year, with payrolls falling by 75,200, a -2.7% drop. Other sectors with notable decreases include Manufacturing (-16,600 or -1.3%), Construction (-15,400 or -1.7%), Retail Trade (-5,500 or -0.3%), Real Estate (-4,000 or -1.3%), Administrative Support (-3,900 or 0.-4%), Management (-2,800 or -1.0%), Information (-2,400 or -0.5%), and Wholesale Trade (-1,600 or -0.2%).
- At the industry level, Health Care led the way in January, with payrolls expanding by 24,000, an increase of 0.8% on a month-over-month basis. With these gains Health Care payrolls are now 18.7% above their pre-pandemic peak.
- Other sectors posting strong gains during the month were Leisure and Hospitality (22,200 or 1.1%), Other Services (11,400 or 1.9%), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (11,000 or 0.8%), Education (7,800 or 1.8%), Construction (6,100 or 0.7%), Administrative Support (3,400 or 0.3%), Wholesale Trade (2,700 or 0.4%), Manufacturing (2,700 or 0.2%), Retail Trade (2,600 or 0.2%), Real Estate (1,700 or 0.6%), and Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (1,400 or 0.2%).
- Payrolls decreased in a handful of sectors in January. Information experienced the largest declines, falling by 1,400, a 0.3% contraction on a month-over-month basis. Other sectors posting declines were Government (-1,300), Management (-500), and Finance and Insurance (-200).
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