The local economy of California and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
5.1%
August 2026, 5.5% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,986
Q1 2026, 18,211,770 jobs
New homes permitted
111,538
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
-209,197
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for California, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for California is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in California was 5.1% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 5.5% a year earlier. 18,506,343 people were employed out of a labor force of 19,499,116. Among its counties, San Mateo County had the lowest rate (4.0%) and Imperial County the highest (21.9%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in California was $1,986 in Q1 2026, up 2.7% from a year earlier, across 18,211,770 jobs at 1,990,701 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 9,649 new homes in California in August 2026 (4,145 single-family and 5,262 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 75,156, up 14.3% from the same months last year, and 111,538 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Los Angeles County (29,499), San Diego County (10,538), Riverside County (7,421) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 406,844 people moved to California and 616,041 moved away, a net loss of 209,197 (-6.8 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Texas, New York, Washington, and most people who left went to Texas, Arizona, Nevada.
Regular gasoline in California averaged $6.19 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.