California Logs Highest Unemployment Rate In Nation At 5.3%

The Associated Press is reporting that California, which lost 2.7 million jobs during the lockdowns of 2020 through 2022, still had the nation’s highest statewide unemployment rate of 5.3% in February.

“I think California’s economy is the leading edge of the national economic slowdown,” said Sung Won Sohn, a professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University.

Recent revisions to the federal measurements of new jobs in California also dealt a blow this month by revising downward Department of Labor estimates of monthly job growth by up to 80% meaning that what had been reported as nearly 300,000 new jobs between September 2022 and September 2023 was in face just 50,000.

We are tracking this important story closely and will continue to update it as new monthly numbers get reported. Please be sure to come back often for updates!

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