California Bucks Unemployment Trend in Majority of States

California saw a slight decrease in unemployment from October to November 2024, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

About 22,000 fewer Californians were unemployed during this period, a decrease from 5.4 percent to 5.3 percent.

Why It Matters

California is among only seven other states and Washington, D.C., to see a decrease in unemployment between October and November 2024, while a large majority of states—including Florida, Texas and New York—saw increases. California's unemployment rate is still higher than the national average of 4.2 percent.

Job seekers speak with prospective employers during a City of Los Angeles career fair in November 2023. California's unemployment rate decreased slightly between October and November 2024. FREDERIC J. BROWN/Contributor/Getty Images

What To Know

Other states that experienced decreased unemployment include Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, D.C.

Unemployment Rates in California Cities

When looking at metropolitan divisions within California, El Centro had the most significant decrease in unemployment (-0.7 percent) between October and November, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (-0.2 percent) and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (-0.2 percent). The largest increases in unemployment was in Salinas (+0.7 percent) and Merced (+0.5 percent).

Unemployment Rates Across the U.S.

Texas (4.2 percent), Florida (3.6 percent) and New York (4.2 percent), the three other largest states in the U.S., each had a marginal 0.1 percent increase in their unemployment rates between October and November 2024.

Maine had the largest increase in unemployment, jumping 0.7 percentage points to 3.6 percent.

California's Unemployment Rate Remains High

Despite California's decrease in unemployment from October to November, unemployment is up 0.4 percent in the Golden State compared to November 2023. Of all the states, California has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation and is currently only surpassed by Nevada.

What People Are Saying

Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said in a statement: "The nation's unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 4.2% in the December reading due Friday. Hiring is expected to be respectable but not extraordinary with around 150,000 jobs added on the month. That's shy of the monthly average for payroll gains of 180,000 in 2024 and 227,000 jobs added in November, pending any revisions."

What Happens Next

Nationwide, there were 8.1 million job openings as of the end of November compared to 7.8 million the previous month, per the U.S. Department of Labor's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released today. While job openings aren't directly tied to the unemployment rate, an increase in open roles is a promising sign for the U.S. labor market and economy as a whole.

December 2024 data on state employment and unemployment is set to be released later this month, so it remains to be seen if California's unemployment rate will continue to decline.