California ranks last in U.S. for job growth

The last time California ranked 51st for job growth before 2023 was the year Bill Clinton was sworn in as president, Beanie Babies were introduced, the first “Jurassic Park” hit the big screen and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” was No. 1 on the charts.

Yes, 1993 was a long time ago.

My trusty spreadsheet — looking at revised employment stats for California, 49 other states,and the District of Columbia from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — found the Golden State bosses adding workers at a 0.87% rate in 2023.

Though any job growth is good, that hiring pace looked meager in an otherwise strong U.S. labor market. California’s hiring pace also was less than half the 2% rate nationally. Second-slowest was Washington, D.C., at 0.91%.

Please note the fastest job growth was happening in key economic rival states. Nevada and Florida gained 3.4% and Texas rose by 3.3%.

California’s economy juggled numerous challenges in 2023, including a weakening technology sector and labor unrest making it the nation’s strike hub and population outflow, which created a shortage of workers to hire. There’s no doubt the state’s reputation as a tough place to do business doesn’t help.

Some California industries are in reverse gear. State jobs stats show noteworthy job cuts in the movie business, off 25% — major strikes all but shut production; at temp agencies, off 14% — drops common when hiring slows; lending, off 9% — rising rates slashed borrowing; and at warehouses, off 5% — online shopping has cooled.

Geographically speaking, some of California’s biggest job markets were weak: San Francisco jobs fell by 1% and employment grew only 0.3% in Los Angeles County and rose 0.4% around San Jose.

But tumbling to the bottom of the hiring rankings isn’t California’s style. Remember 1993? When a California house cost $190,000, L.A.’S Metro subway opened and the first PDF documents were created.

Looking back over 50 years, that year was the only other time that California was the worst state for job growth. The state’s job count shrank by 1% in 1993 largely due to a major loss of aerospace work and the fallout from a real estate crash.

Think about who has been No. 51 in hiring more often since 1974: D.C. (six times), Michigan (five times), Alaska and West Virginia (four) and