State touts job growth on Labor Day 2012
Annual report says most areas improving
California added jobs at the fastest year-over pace in 11 years, the state is outperforming the nation and all but a handful of small states in job creation, and the upward trend seems likely to continue, according to the annual Labor Day Briefing from the state Employment Development Department (EDD).
“California’s economy was hurt by the reckless acts of Wall Street financiers, but the Golden State remains a center of robust innovation and is leading the nation in job growth,” said Gov. Jerry Brown.
“Small businesses and major companies like Samsung, Sun Edison, Dell, Bayer Healthcare, and Zollner Electronics have expanded their operations, bringing thousands of new jobs to California.”
“This Labor Day, workers can celebrate the fact that job growth is increasing in California and we have added the highest number of jobs in the nation over the past year,” said EDD Director Pam Harris. “Over the past two years, California has been making steady, substantial job gains. As the state’s economy continues to gain strength, we believe that the upswing in job growth is here to stay.”
“California’s entrepreneurs are once again leading the state on a path to prosperity,” said Governor Brown’s Senior Jobs Advisor Mike Rossi. “The state’s private sector job growth, 572,500 new jobs since the recession, outpaces the rest of the nation.”
While private job gains are showing the most strength, California has added more than half a million nonfarm jobs in total since the recovery began in September 2009. Over the three months ending in July 2012, California gained 116,100 total nonfarm payroll jobs, for an average gain of 38,700 jobs per month, with the private sector growing even faster, gaining an average of 39,500 jobs per month. In fact, in the 12 months ending in July 2012, California’s private sector has shown its strongest year-over job growth since March 2001, gaining 324,400 jobs.
However, the job growth is not being felt in the Central Valley compared to other areas of the state. The last report from the EDD showed Tulare County with a jobless rate in excess of 15%, about what it was a year ago and 6 percentage points higher than it was before the recession began.
