California created 25 percent of the nation’s jobs in December, added over a million jobs since February

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement regarding today’s jobs report showing that California created 25 percent of the nation’s new jobs in December, along with an unemployment rate decrease to 6.5 percent:

“California continues to create an outsized share of the nation’s new jobs, with 25 percent of the entire country’s job creation happening right here – part of the record 1 million new jobs that our state created throughout last year’s economic recovery. As we go forward this year, we’ll continue taking action to get more folks back to work and support our businesses hit hardest by the pandemic.”

• Since February 2021, California has added 1,034,400 total nonfarm jobs, which averages out to be a gain of 94,036 jobs per month.
• California has seen a year-over record 6 percent in nonfarm jobs for 2021, which is the largest calendar year increase in the official series data going back to 1990.
• California’s December 2021 gain of 50,700 nonfarm jobs accounted for nearly 25.5 percent of the nation’s 199,000 overall jobs gain for the month.
• The state has now regained 1,946,200, or nearly 72 percent, of the 2,714,800 jobs that were lost in March and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Month-over, no industry sectors lost jobs for the first time since March 2021.

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