State payrolls grew in August, but a separate household survey showed fewer Californians employed than a year earlier.
California employers added 39,400 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, while the statewide unemployment rate held at 5.1%, according to new data from the California Employment Development Department.
EDD reported 18.18 million payroll jobs statewide, up 138,500 from August 2025. Private education and health services led the monthly gains with 18,600 added jobs, followed by government with 9,800 and leisure and hospitality with 7,800.
Orange County’s not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 4.4%, with an estimated labor force of about 1.60 million people and roughly 71,100 unemployed.
Two surveys show different parts of the picture
EDD cautions that its monthly report uses two separate federal surveys. The payroll survey measures jobs at businesses, while the household survey measures employment among California residents.
That household survey estimated 18.51 million Californians were employed in August, down 36,600 from July and down 246,700 from a year earlier. The state labor force was also estimated to be 351,100 smaller than in August 2025.
The figures are not directly interchangeable, but together they show why a single headline number does not capture the entire labor market.
