State job market stays strong

California added 60,200 non-agricultural jobs in March, dropping the state’s total unemployed to below one million for the first time since February 2020, one month before the pandemic hit the United States, according to data released today.

The state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent last month, well below the national jobless rate of 6.4 percent, the state Employment Development Department reported.

California has now recovered nearly 90 percent of the 2.7 million jobs it lost in March and April of 2020 due to COVID-19. The state has added non-agricultural jobs in 13 of the past 14 months, a trend that is likely to continue, according to one local economist.

“The strong job gains relative to the nation will continue, since California has more ground to recover compared to the rest of the country,” said Taner Osman, research manager at Beacon Economics and UC’s Riverside’s Center for Economic Forecasting. “While macro headwinds, most notably rising interest rates and inflation, gather momentum, it’s not expected to slow employment growth in the coming months as the re-opening tailwinds remain strong.”

The Inland Empire’s unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in March, down from a revised five percent in February. Unlike the state, the Inland job numbers are not adjusted for seasonal factors that typically affect the job market.