‘Beginning of the end of the pandemic.’ Unemployment rates fall across California

Unemployment rates fell across California last month in the latest signal that the economy is responding to the easing of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

With vaccination rates increasing and more sectors of the economy reopening, the Employment Development Department reported Friday that Sacramento’s unemployment rate dipped to 6.9% in March, down two-tenths of a percentage point.

Employers added 5,000 jobs to their payrolls, with the hard-hit leisure and hospitality sector gaining 1,300 jobs as restaurants continued their climb-out from the shutdowns. The education sector brought 1,600 employees back to work as schools started reopening for in-person instruction.

The statewide unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a point, to 8.3%, as payrolls grew by 119,600 jobs. This followed a gain of 156,100 jobs a month earlier, further evidence of an accelerating recovery.

“This healthy job number heralds the beginning of the end of the pandemic,” said economist Sung Won Sohn, of Loyola Marymount University, in a note to reporters.

Newsom’s administration welcomed the news.

“Today’s jobs report is another marker of how far we’ve come together — and of how much work we still have to do. The growth in leisure and hospitality jobs is encouraging given how devastating COVID-19 was to the industry. With vaccine eligibility now expanded to Californians 16 and older, our safe reopening and strong recovery will require an ongoing commitment to vaccine access and to a safe workplace for everyone, as more and more Californians get back to work,” said a joint statement by Dee Dee Myers, director of the Office of Business and Economic Development, and state Labor Secretary Julie Su.

The recovery is far from complete; California has recouped just 44% of the 2.7 million jobs that disappeared during the initial two-month blitz of the pandemic last spring that sent the statewide unemployment rate to 16%.

The unemployment picture last month brightened in other California cities. In Los Angeles, the hardest-hit metro area in the state, the rate fell two-tenths of a point to 11.3%. San Francisco’s unemployment fell three-tenths of a point, to 5.2%.

• Fresno unemployment dropped two-tenths of a point, to 9.9%.
• Modesto’s fell three-tenths, to 8.8%.
• Merced’s fell two-tenths, to 11.4%.
• San Luis Obispo’s fell a half-point, to 5.8%.

This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 9:43 AM with the headline "‘Beginning of the end of the pandemic.’ Unemployment rates fall across California."