Some readers thought I was a tad harsh on California when I noted that the state had the nation’s slowest job growth in 2023.
Yes, adding any number of jobs isn’t bad – but 154,000 new workers equals only 0.9% growth in a hot US job market that grew 2%. That hiring pace – as measured on a percentage-point basis – ranked No. 51 among the states and the District of Columbia.
We often forget that California is by far the nation’s largest job market with 17.8 million workers. My trusty spreadsheet tells me the Golden State has ranked No. 1 since 1972. The second-biggest job market in the US is Texas at 13.9 million workers. Florida is No. 3 at 9.7 million.
But my readers’ argument that California’s size would make it hard to be among the fastest growing on a percentage-point basis is a stretch. Texas (3.3% more jobs in 2023) and Florida (up 3.4%) ranked in 2023’s top three for percentage growth along with Nevada (up 3.4%).
Look, there are various ways to measure economic progress.
Remember, percentage-point growth shows us the relative scale of hiring trends on the overall California job market as well as against other states. Still, let’s look at California ranked by the number of new jobs created – not the 2023 percentage gain.
My trusty spreadsheet tells me that those 154,000 California hires last year were topped by only three states – Texas (449,600), Florida (316,600), and New York (195,000).
However, California having lofty spots on this kind of job-creation scorecard is nothing newsy. California ranked No. 1 or No. 2 for total new jobs in 11 of the past 12 years (let’s forget coronavirus-chilled 2020’s last-place finish).
And historically speaking, over the past 52 years as the largest job market, California’s count of new workers led the nation 27 times and ranked second 10 times.
Or look how modest last year’s hiring was this way: 154,000 new jobs was 27% below California’s average year since 1972.
High rankings…
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