California Adds 39,400 Jobs in August

SACRAMENTO — California added 39,400 nonfarm payroll jobs in August while the unemployment rate remained at 5.1 percent according to the latest data from the Employment Development Department (EDD). The rate is down 0.4% from August 2025.

California had 18,177,200 payroll jobs in August, an increase from both July and August 2025. The State had 138,500 more payroll jobs than a year ago. July’s job total was also revised upward by 4,800 jobs, lowering the estimated job loss in July to 15,700.

The August employment data comes from two separate surveys. The payroll survey measures the number of jobs at California businesses. The household survey measures employment and unemployment among Californians.

Monthly Labor Force Data for Counties
August 2026 (Preliminary); 2025 Benchmark
Not Seasonally Adjusted
County Labor Force Employment Unemployment Rate
STATE TOTAL 19,491,000 18,446,700 1,044,300 5.4%
ALAMEDA 855,600 814,000 41,600 4.9%
ALPINE 430 380 40 10.4%
AMADOR 15,030 14,150 880 5.8%
BUTTE 89,700 84,100 5,600 6.2%
CALAVERAS 17,570 16,460 1,110 6.3%
COLUSA 11,800 10,700 1,100 9.4%
CONTRA COSTA 574,200 545,500 28,700 5.0%
DEL NORTE 9,310 8,710 600 6.5%
EL DORADO 89,500 84,900 4,600 5.1%
FRESNO 471,900 434,900 36,900 7.8%
GLENN 11,730 10,910 830 7.1%
HUMBOLDT 58,900 55,600 3,300 5.6%
IMPERIAL 76,300 59,600 16,700 21.9%
INYO 8,380 7,980 400 4.7%
KERN 414,000 379,300 34,800 8.4%
KINGS 59,900 54,800 5,100 8.5%
LAKE 26,730 24,800 1,930 7.2%
LASSEN 8,070 7,540 540 6.6%
LOS ANGELES 4,990,400 4,743,500 247,000 4.9%
MADERA 70,400 65,200 5,200 7.4%
MARIN 122,700 117,300 5,400 4.4%
MARIPOSA 7,930 7,490 440 5.6%
MENDOCINO 36,480 34,440 2,040 5.6%
MERCED 121,900 111,000 10,900 8.9%
MODOC 3,110 2,920 190 6.1%
MONO 8,790 8,410 380 4.3%
MONTEREY 228,400 215,400 13,000 5.7%
NAPA 74,000 70,800 3,200 4.3%
NEVADA 47,550 45,190 2,370 5.0%
ORANGE 1,601,900 1,530,800 71,100 4.4%
PLACER 207,500 198,100 9,400 4.5%
PLUMAS 8,080 7,620 460 5.7%
RIVERSIDE 1,183,600 1,110,700 72,900 6.2%
SACRAMENTO 781,600 740,300 41,300 5.3%
SAN BENITO 35,100 33,000 2,100 5.9%
SAN BERNARDINO 1,020,600 962,900 57,700 5.7%
SAN DIEGO 1,640,000 1,559,600 80,300 4.9%
SAN FRANCISCO 499,100 478,100 21,000 4.2%
SAN JOAQUIN 369,700 345,600 24,200 6.5%
SAN LUIS OBISPO 132,300 126,100 6,200 4.7%
SAN MATEO 408,400 392,100 16,300 4.0%
SANTA BARBARA 224,000 213,700 10,300 4.6%
SANTA CLARA 1,034,300 990,300 44,000 4.3%
SANTA CRUZ 139,000 131,600 7,400 5.3%
SHASTA 81,600 77,300 4,300 5.3%
SIERRA 1,560 1,490 70 4.4%
SISKIYOU 16,260 15,080 1,180 7.3%
SOLANO 216,600 204,700 11,800 5.5%
SONOMA 246,000 235,000 11,000 4.5%
STANISLAUS 253,200 235,500 17,700 7.0%
SUTTER 46,200 42,800 3,400 7.4%
TEHAMA 27,390 25,710 1,690 6.2%
TRINITY 5,710 5,400 310 5.5%
TULARE 215,900 193,500 22,400 10.4%
TUOLUMNE 22,050 20,810 1,240 5.6%
VENTURA 414,400 393,600 20,800 5.0%
YOLO 112,300 105,900 6,400 5.7%
YUBA 35,900 33,500 2,400 6.7%