California's October 2013 unemployment rate stands at 8.7%, higher than 45 others states and lower than four states and Washington, D.C. California's unemployment rate is essentially unchanged from its July 2013 level but higher than the national rate of 7.3%.
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The California economy added 39,800 jobs from September to October 2013. California has regained 868,300 jobs of the roughly 1.3 million jobs lost after the global financial crisis. To date, California has recovered 67% of the jobs that California had in January, 2008.
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While California continues to have decent job growth, it continues to lag other states. The following chart compares the job growth since January 2008 between the two most-populous states, California and Texas.
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On the national level ...
Unemployment patterns remain as before the 2008-2009 recession, only magnified. Unemployment is highest for those lacking a high school diploma. The unemployment rate improves with increasing education. However, at all educational levels, unemployment rates remain higher than their pre-recession levels.
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The ratio of civilian unemployment to total population remains stubbornly stagnant at its lowest level in a generation. The falling unemployment rate may be due to fewer people in the work force.
Unemployment patterns remain as before the 2008-2009 recession, only magnified. Unemployment is highest for those lacking a high school diploma. The unemployment rate improves with increasing education. However, at all educational levels, unemployment rates remain higher than their pre-recession levels.
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Likewise, previous patterns of unemployment by rate or ethnicity continue, only magnified. The unemployment rate for black or African-Americans is highest, followed by Hispanics or Latinos, then followed by whites and Asians. Only Asians have an unemployment rate lower than the peak of the previous recession.
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The ratio of civilian unemployment to total population remains stubbornly stagnant at its lowest level in a generation. The falling unemployment rate may be due to fewer people in the work force.
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Likewise, the civilian labor force participation rate is its lowest since 1978.
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The average duration of unemployment, while falling, remains near its all-time record high of 40.7 weeks. The previous high was 21.2, well below the current value of 36.1 weeks.
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The following chart shows the total non-form employment for the United States from 2000 until October 2013. During the current downturn, the U.S. job market lost over 8.7 million jobs from its January 2008 peak. Since then, the job market regained 7.2 million of those jobs, or 83% of the previous peak level. Meanwhile, the working-age population increased by 9.5 million from 2008 to 2012 and likely more through 2013. Consequently, while the U.S. economy is adding jobs, it is also adding workers.
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