Sad California: 4th highest epidemic unemployment rate in the U.S. 4th lowest job recovery in the U.S.

California’s Epidemic unemployment rate is the fourth highest in the nation, increasing 3.9 percent to 8.4 percent since February 2020. (Photo taken from TV screenshot)

During the past 12 months of the epidemic, California has had the fourth lowest job recovery and fourth highest epidemic unemployment rate in the nation. California’s strict business restrictions to slow the spread of the virus have impacted the job market.

In terms of total jobs, California lost the most jobs in the nation, laying off 1.66 million workers since February 2020. New York, the state next to California, lost 1.06 million jobs, and Texas, ranked third, laid off 593,000 workers. Only two states had better employment than the previous year: Idaho added 7,900 jobs and Utah added 5,800 jobs. Montana had the fewest job losses, with only 10,300 fewer jobs.

California had the largest job market in the country, with 16 million workers. Texas is next, with 12.4 million people. New York was third, with 8.8 million workers.

If you look at state employment performance by party, Democratic states, including California, lost a total of 6.56 million jobs in one year. Republican states fared slightly better, with 3.29 million job losses. By unemployment standards, California’s unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in February, the fourth worst in the nation. Connecticut and Hawaii ranked third, with 8.5 percent unemployment. New Hampshire and Vermont had the lowest unemployment rates at 3.3 percent, and South Dakota at 3.4 percent.

In terms of unemployment, California’s unemployment rate increased by 3.9 percent to 8.4 percent over the past year, ranking fourth highest in the nation, with the sixth largest increase in unemployment since February 2020. Hawaii, on the other hand, was the state with the largest increase in unemployment, up 6.4 percent to 8.5 percent. The second-worst ranked state was New York, with a 5.5 percent increase in unemployment to 9.6 percent. Connecticut’s unemployment rate rose 4.2 percent to 8.5 percent. New Hampshire’s unemployment rate increased by only 0.2% to 3.3%.