(CN) — California added 60,000 jobs in March and watched its unemployment rate continue to dwindle, according to the jobs report issued on Friday.
The numbers mean fewer than 1 million Californians are unemployed for the first time since February 2020, just before the pandemic shutdown.
“Today’s report is more good news for California’s continued economic recovery, representing thousands of new opportunities for workers throughout the state,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. “We’re committed to building on these gains and our progress toward creating a stronger, fairer and more prosperous state for all Californians to live and work.”
Newsom also noted California’s job growth rate of 6.4% outpaced the national average of 4.5% during the same time frame.
One of the reasons that California’s job growth outpaces other states is because it had more ground to make up. California continues to boast one of the top five highest unemployment rates in the nation at 4.9%. Only Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico and Alaska have higher rates.
New Mexico has the highest unemployment rate at 5.3%. The national unemployment rate stands at 3.6%.
After cutting more jobs at the outset of the pandemic than any other state, California has filled about 90% of the jobs it had before the coronavirus pandemic struck U.S. shores in March 2020.
The figure is better than states like Hawaii, North Dakota and Lousiana, but worse than states like North Carolina, Florida, Utah and Idaho that have achieved full employment compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to Fitch Ratings.
But California’s report is unequivocally good news, particularly as none of the Golden State's 11 industry sectors lost jobs and leisure & hospitality, one of the sectors most battered by pandemic restrictions, gained nearly 15,000 jobs and outpaced other sectors.
Last week, the Public Policy Institute of California said the jobs recovery has been stronger than anticipated.
Many experts believe California’s recovery will continue to be robust as it recovers from some of the strictest pandemic restrictions in the nation.
“California’s labor market has had a very encouraging start to the year,” said Taner Osman, research manager at the Center for Economic Forecasting and Beacon Economics. “And now that many of the public health mandates restricting activity have been removed, and there is a jobs deficit in the state compared to the nation, we should continue to see strong job growth in the coming months.”
One of the sour aspects of the economy continues to be inflation, with gas prices at a record high and consumers paying about 8% more for many household goods than they were a year ago.
Some economists argue employment numbers and job recovery are not as important to consumers during times of high inflation, as their discretionary spending power and real wages plummet relative to the cost of goods.
The Consumer Price Index increased another 1.2% in March, adding to the 8.5% spike in the last year.
California policymakers are mostly subject to the whims of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which establishes monetary policy to combat inflation and other undesired economic conditions, but Republicans at the state argue the Newsom administration and Democrats in the Legislature need to act faster to lower the tax burden for consumers, particularly around gasoline.
Democrats contend peeling back the gas tax presents a gift to oil and gas companies and have proposed alternatives, mostly centered on the concept of giving rebates to consumers.
Follow @@MatthewCRenda
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
