SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in July, the lowest point since 1976 as employers in the the nation’s most populous state continued to defy expectations by adding 84,800 new jobs.
Record-high inflation coupled with a cool-down in the housing market have prompted warnings of an economic slowdown as consumers react to high prices for goods from groceries to gasoline.
But new numbers released Friday by California’s Employment Development Department show its labor market has so far been immune from those issues, as the state has had month-over-month job growth in 17 out of the last 18 months.