California’s unemployment rate held steady at the record low of 4.1% in August as the state’s period of job gains reached 114 months, exceeding the expansion of the 1960s.
The California Employment Development Department says Friday the state’s employers added 34,500 nonfarm payroll jobs last month.
The rate also was 4.1% in July, when California tied the old job expansion record of 113 months. The record low rate was first set from July through December 2018.
The department says California has added an average of 29,200 jobs per month over the 114-month expansion since the Great Recession. That exceeds the 8,000 to 9,000 new jobs needed monthly to keep up with growth of the labor force.
The department says the expansion has been broad-based with gains across multiple industries.
The unemployment rate in San Luis Obispo County was 3.1 percent in August, down from 3.2 percent in July. It was also 3.1 percent in August of last year.
Santa Barbara County's unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in August, down from 3.7 percent in July and below the year-ago estimate of 3.7 percent.
