Race and Gender Dimensions of Rising Unemployment

California has added essentially no new jobs so far in 2025. While month-by-month job growth varies-due both to revisions in the data and to underlying shifts in the market-the longer term trend is clear: job growth is tepid at best. Since August 2022, employers have added about 240,000 jobs, just 1.4% growth compared to 5.6% growth from 2016 to 2019. Today, almost 1.1 million Californians report they are unemployed and looking for work-up from 825,000 in 2022. In this post, we look into how unemployment is affecting different groups of Californians.

Unemployment rates have been increasing slowly for both men and women since the middle of 2022. While unemployment peaked at a higher level for women during the pandemic, the gap has disappeared. Today the rate is similar: 5.5% for men and 5.7% for women.

Among white, Asian, Latino, and Black/other adults in California, unemployment rates hit lows in 2022-with the smallest increase since then for Asian workers (0.4%). (Due to limited sample sizes, "Black/other" includes the self-reported categories of Black, Pacific Islander, Native American Californians, along with those of other, smaller groups.) The unemployment rate has increased between 1.5-2 points since 2022 for Black/other, Latino, and white workers.

This increase in unemployment among Black/other workers appears to be driven by women, whose unemployment rose from 5.6% in May-August 2022 to 8.9% in the same months of 2025, with a stark jump in the last year. The rate for Black/other men has remained near 8.5% since 2022.

The disproportionate rise for Black/other women is due in part to the sectors in which they work: retail, educational services, and information, three sectors with elevated unemployment rates in May-August 2025. Eight percent of Black/other women work in government compared to 5% of workers overall, which may also affect unemployment rates. Federal employment has declined nationally (-3.2%) and statewide (-2.1%) in 2025.

But there are some bright spots for Black/other women: they are about twice as likely to work in health and social services than the average California worker, and this sector has been the strongest source of job growth in recent years, with workers much less likely to be unemployed. In addition, state and local government jobs-which comprise the bulk of government employment in California-are faring better in terms of job growth.

Latina women have the next highest rates of unemployment in California today; Latino men are just behind them but with a larger increase. About one-fifth of Latina women work in health and social services, where jobs are growing; but over one-third work in retail, accommodation and food service, and educational services, where unemployment is relatively high. For Latino men, increased unemployment in the agricultural and transportation sectors (comparing May-August 2025 to 2022) could factor into their higher unemployment rates today. Like Latina women, they are also overrepresented in accommodation and food services.

Asian men and women have the lowest unemployment rates in California today, with small to nil increases since 2022. One-fifth to one-quarter work in professional, scientific, and technical services compared to 11% of the workforce overall. Though this sector has been troubled with layoffs and slow growth since mid-2022, unemployment levels are much lower than for many other sectors, even with recent increases. White men and women are also overrepresented in this sector, though less so than Asian workers.

Due to forces like AI, trade policy, and uncertainty around recession that are shifting job opportunities, some sectors are more resilient in the near term than others. But workers with skills and experience suited for particular work may struggle to switch to sectors with more plentiful job openings. These realities will not impact all Californians in the same way given that work can skew around demographics.

While trends across industries differ and remain important, other factors drive diverging unemployment trends by race and gender. Uncovering these factors and shoring up safety nets for unemployed workers should be a priority as lawmakers seek to support California's diverse communities, workers, and businesses. Improving the state's unemployment insurance system, broadening assistance with job search, and expanding training opportunities to prepare for new or shifting work are all key to building resilience for the state's workforce.