Nearly 400,000 Workers Enter California Labor Force In 2021

In a positive sign, the California Labor Market grew in 2021 by approximately 397,000 workers to top out over 19,074,000 total workers. During the recovery from the pandemic lockdowns of the last 20 months, workers have been slow to return to the labor market causing employment shortages in many key industries and nationwide as more than 10.9 million jobs remain open (Great Resignation Continues - Indy Star).

While the positive movement in the growth of workers reporting themselves available to work consistently continued with 30,200 joining in December 2021, the county-by-county unemployment rates across the state were routinely higher than the national average of 4.0% unemployment (Source: California EDD).