California lost 5,500 jobs in October, bringing unemployment rate to 5.4%

OAKLAND, Calif. – Though inflation continued to tick down last month, unemployment ticked up, especially in the Golden State where a reliable gain in jobs saw a small but sudden dip. The overall U.S. unemployment rate is hovering at a historically low 4.1%. 

“The national rate, in fact, would have been stronger if not for Hurricane Helene and Hurricane  Milton, as well as the Boeing strike,” said employment lawyer and former EDD Director Michael Bernick.

Unfortunately, the Golden State rate ticked higher. 

“California going up to 5.4%. That’s among the highest, if not the highest. It diverges significantly from the national rate of 4.1%. And, I think one big takeaway today is that our divergence between us and the national rate is only getting bigger,” said Mr. Bernick.

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In fact, October was one of the few months, in the past four years, where California actually lost payroll jobs. 

“In other words, we’ve been averaging gains, over the past year of about 22,000 jobs per month. This month we actually showed a loss of 5,500 jobs,” said Bernick. 

Steady hiring in the healthcare sector keeps California’s rate from being worse.

Another problem, rising unemployment claims both new and existing far exceed what they should proportionally be compared to the rest of the nation.

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 “California has roughly 12.5% of the nation’s labor force. This past week we had over 21% of all new claims and over 21% of all continuing unemployment claims,” said the former EDD Director. “Even though inflation is way down, inflation’s cumulative effect, brought on by the pandemic, stings the purse strings. Since the pandemic, prices are up over 22%.”

That’s precisely why the world’s best economic recovery doesn’t feel like it to American consumers and voters.