California's April jobless rate higher than Great Recession

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's unemployment rate nearly tripled to 15.5% in April as the nation's most populous state lost more jobs in one month than it did during the Great Recession a decade ago — all because of the economic fallout from coronavirus pandemic.

Just two months ago, California was boasting an unprecedented economic expansion as it added more than 3.4 million jobs over 10 years, accounting for 15% of the nation's job growth. More than two thirds of those gains were wiped out in April as the state lost 2.3 million jobs.

California accounted for 11.4% of all jobs lost nationwide in April as the unemployment rate jumped 10.2 percentage points since March, the largest one month rise since 1976 when the state began using its current formula to measure job losses.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate reached 14.7% as all 50 states plus the District of Columbia reported increased job losses, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The California joblessness statistics released Friday by the California Employment Development Department only tell part of the story because the report is based on a survey conducted the week of April 12.

Many more California residents have lost their jobs since then, with the department reporting 5.1 million people have filed for unemployment benefits since March.

“Businesses that have tried to hold on to workers are deciding that they can’t do so any longer, others are deciding that they can’t stay open with the uncertain future,” said Michael Bernick, former director of the California Employment Development Department and now a lawyer with the firm Duane Morris. “It is only when we have a confident, aggressive reopening in California that we can expect the job reconstruction to truly begin.”

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