California job losses jump 20% in a year

The state had 16% of all US job losses vs. a 14% average share in pre-pandemic 2015-19.

California, we have a job-loss problem.

All the noise about rising California layoffs – especially at technology companies – is adding up to real pain. Consider a Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis of household employment surveys that shows 482,700 Californians lost their jobs in the year ending in the first quarter.

My trusty spreadsheet found California job losses are No. 1 in the nation, though the state was followed by other economic heavyweights. Texas was No. 2 at 274,900, then New York at 220,600, Illinois at 155,700, and Florida at 141,900.

And these job cuts were California’s worst in seven quarters. Those pink slips amounted to 16% of the US total vs. the state’s 14% average share in pre-pandemic 2015-19.

In addition, they’re growing: The latest pace of California job losses represented a 20% increase in a year. But to be fair, rising job cuts aren’t just a Golden State quirk.

That one-year bump in layoffs was only the 14th biggest among the states. The largest increase was found in South Dakota, up 79%, then Missouri at 51%, New Jersey at 47%, Alabama at 44% and Utah at 41%. Texas was up 5% while Florida was up 11%.

And let’s note that the pace of jobs cut fell in 13 states. The biggest decliners were Maine, down 33% in a year, then Pennsylvania (off 32%), Mississippi (off 31%), Vermont (off 23%) and Oregon (off 17%).

Looking back to pre-pandemic 2015-19 gives us some perspective of how today’s economic patterns look against what might be seen as normalcy.

This math makes California recent job cuts look typical. First-quarter losses are 2% below the pace of terminations during that quaint era before we all knew what coronavirus was.

At the same time, this California dip seems meek using a national lens.

Job cuts across the US dropped 16% between 2024’s first quarter and 2015-19. And only six states performed worse than California: Idaho cuts were up 23%, then New Jersey, up 12%, Texas, up 4%, Utah, up 0.2%, New York, off 0.2%, and Colorado, off 1%.

The biggest job-cut decrease was in Mississippi, down 63% vs. 2015-19, then Pennsylvania, down 49%, Wyoming, down 48%, Vermont, down 44%, and Maine, down 42%. Florida was 12th best, off 30%.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com