SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — California’s unemployment rate increased slightly in July and is now the highest of any state in the nation. California added 15,000 nonfarm jobs in July, according to the Employment Development Department, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.1% to 5.5%, which is higher than that of any other state and higher than the national average of 4.2%.
July’s job gains follow a downward-revised job loss of 9,500 for June, the EDD said.
California’s 15,000 job gains accounted for 20.5% of the 73,000 total jobs gained nationally last month, notably stronger than the state’s 11.3% share of jobs nationally. California also saw its unemployment rate increase 0.1 percent in July, mirroring the national increase of 0.1%.
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Year-over-year, California has gained 83,800 jobs, primarily driven by private education and health services, and government. Six of California’s 11 industry sectors saw gains in July.
The biggest month-over-month job sector loss was in professional and business services with specialized design, computer design, and scientific research and development experiencing consistent year-over losses every month of 2025.
The tech-heavy information sector lost 1,000 jobs month-over-month June to July and has seen a 12,400-job loss year-over-year compared to July of 2024. State figures indicate there were 1,088,600 unemployed Californians in July, an increase of 18,200 over June, and up 31,800 compared to July of last year.
California’s technology industry, which is largely centered in the Bay Area, has seen thousands of layoffs over the past several years, first from pandemic “right-sizing,” and more recently, as companies scale up for artificial intelligence.
According to one recent report, the proliferation of AI has led to over 10,000 job cuts in 2025 so far.
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