California Hiring Surge Likely to Continue in Coming Months

Given that the state fully reopened its economy on June 15, the recent surge in hiring is expected to continue during the summer. This will result in more rapid growth in California relative to the U.S. in the coming months, according to Beacon Economics.

California’s unemployment rate decreased to 7.9 percent in May, a 0.1 percentage-point decline from the previous month, and the state’s labor force expanded by 12,400. California’s unemployment rate remains elevated relative to the 5.8 percent rate in the United States overall. Since February 2020, the state’s labor force has declined by 2.7 percent or 525,400 workers.

“It has been an encouraging few months with employment growth in California outpacing the rate of growth nationally in 2021,” said Taner Osman, research manager at Beacon Economics and the Center for Forecasting. “Although the labor market recovery in the state lags the nation overall, the recent reopening of California’s economy will hopefully go some way towards closing that gap.”