Department of Numbers

California Job Growth

There were 15,998,900 jobs in California in February 2021 according to the CES survey of employers. The CPS survey of households showed 17,334,333 employed persons for the month. California added 141,000 jobs in February 2021 according to the CES survey while the broader CPS employment measure rose by 345,650 (Comparing CES and CPS employment numbers.). Also available is California job growth compared to other states.

Employment Survey February 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
CES 15,998,900 +141,000 -1,662,000
CPS 17,334,333 +345,650 -1,253,423

California Employment Changes

The charts below shows the monthly job growth for California as measured by the CES and CPS surveys. To illustrate the trend, the 3 month moving average change in employment is shown in green.

CES Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

CPS Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

Total Employment in California

CES employment peaked in February 2020 for California at 17,660,900. Since then 1,662,000 jobs have been lost in California according to the employer survey. From a trough of 14,946,100 in April 2020, California has gained 1,052,800 jobs according to CES employment figures.

CPS employment in California reached a maximum of 18,629,682 in December 2019. 1,295,349 jobs have been lost in California since then according to the household survey. From a May 2020 low of 15,529,319, California has added 1,805,014 jobs according to the CPS survey.

Employment: CES, CPS

CES and CPS employment chart through February 2021

California Employment History

Date CES
Employment		 CES
Month/Month		 CPS
Employment		 CPS
Month/Month
February 2021 15,998,900 141,000 17,334,333 345,650
January 2021 15,857,900 -80,000 16,988,683 31,664
December 2020 15,937,900 -75,400 16,957,019 -26,884
November 2020 16,013,300 49,900 16,983,903 -66,357
October 2020 15,963,400 89,300 17,050,260 614,757
September 2020 15,874,100 116,300 16,435,503 70,160
August 2020 15,757,800 93,200 16,365,343 97,298
July 2020 15,664,600 52,900 16,268,045 107,009
June 2020 15,611,700 479,000 16,161,036 631,717
May 2020 15,132,700 186,600 15,529,319 -95,110
April 2020 14,946,100 -2,538,000 15,624,429 -2,680,145
March 2020 17,484,100 -176,800 18,304,574 -283,182

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