July 17, 2026
Beacon Employment Report | California
Presented by Beacon Economics
Copyright © Beacon Economics LLC
REGIONAL OVERVIEW
Regionally, job gains were led by Southern California. Los Angeles (MD) saw the largest increase, where payrolls grew by 2,300 during the month. Ventura (900 or 0.3%), San Diego (400), the Inland Empire (300) and El Centro (100 or 0.2%) also grew their payrolls during the month. On the other hand, payrolls fell in Orange County (-100). Over the past year, San Diego (1.0%) saw the fastest job growth in the region, followed by El Centro (0.5%), the Inland Empire (0.5%), Los Angeles (MD) (0.3%), Orange County (unchanged), and Ventura (-0.3%).
In the Bay Area, San Francisco (MD) (1,500 or 0.1%) saw the largest increase during the month. Santa Rosa (200 or 0.1%) also grew their payrolls. In contrast, payrolls fell in San Jose (-3,300 or -0.3%), the East Bat (-1,900 or -0.2%), Vallejo (-200 or -0.1%), and San Rafael (MD) (-100 or -0.1%) and were unchanged in Napa. Over the past 12 months, Napa (2.0%) has enjoyed the fastest job growth in the region, followed by San Jose (1.4%), San Francisco (MD) (1.2%), Santa Rosa (0.9%), San Rafael (MD) (0.4%), Vallejo (0.1%) and the East Bay (unchanged).
In the Central Valley, no metro area added jobs this month. Payrolls were unchanged in Chico, Hanford, Redding, and Yuba. On the other hand, payrolls fell in Bakersfield (-2,200 or -0.7%), Stockton (-2,000 or -0.7%), Fresno (-1,500 or -0.3%), Sacramento (-400), Visalia (-300 or -0.2%), Merced (-300 or -0.4%), and Modesto (-100 or -0.1%). Over the past year, Merced (2.8%) saw the fastest growth, followed by Redding (1.8%), Fresno (1.8%), Yuba (1.5%), Hanford (1.4%), Sacramento (0.6%), Modesto (0.4%), Visalia (0.4%), Stockton (unchanged), Bakersfield (-0.1%), and Chico (-0.3%).
On California’s Central Coast, Santa Barbara (200 or 0.1%) added the largest number of jobs during the month Payrolls also grew in San Luis Obispo (100 or 0.1%) but fell in Salinas (-300 or -0.2%) and were unchanged in Santa Cruz. From June 2025 to June 2026, Salinas (1.2%) added jobs at the fastest rate, followed by Santa Barbara (0.7%), Santa Cruz (0.6%) and San Luis Obispo (-1.4%).
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