Sacramento, CA — The May state unemployment rate held steady at 5.3%, maintaining that rate over the past three months, while the Mother Lode saw a drop.
California gained 3,100 nonfarm payroll jobs in May. According to the just-released Employment Development Department (EDD) data, the total nonfarm jobs in California’s 11 major industries amounted to 18,166,100 in May. Over the past year, California’s employment rate has declined by 0.2 percentage points while the nation’s rate has held steady. The number of unemployed Californians was 1,037,500 in May, a decrease of 8,800 from April and a decrease of 46,400 from May 2025, marking the state’s sixth consecutive monthly decline.
Tuolumne County followed that downward trend in May, down to 4.8 percent from 5.2 percent in April. In Calaveras County, the dip was lower, at 5.8 percent in April to 5.4 percent last month.
Six of California’s 11 industry sectors added jobs in May, with private education & health services gaining 6,200 jobs. Leisure & Hospitality was second with 5,900 jobs added, driven by gains in performing arts, spectator sports, and related activities, as well as amusement parks, arcades, and other amusement and recreation industries. However, this gain was smaller than usual for May.
Posting the biggest loss was Professional & Business Services at -6,900, the state’s largest month-over-month job loss, with declines in accounting, tax preparation, and bookkeeping services, as well as computer system design and related services.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.3% in May 2026, remaining unchanged from the previous month. EDD officials provided these final assessments:
California added 103,600 jobs since the beginning of 2026, averaging 20,720 jobs per month. Over that period, the state accounted for 18.2 percent of the nation’s total job growth (+569,000), well above its usual monthly share of U.S. total nonfarm jobs, at 11.4 percent.
Year-over-year—Total nonfarm jobs increased by 102,900 (a 0.57 percent increase) from May 2025 to May 2026, compared to the U.S. year-over-year gain of 503,000 jobs (a 0.32 percent increase).
