According to information released by the California Employment Development Department (EDD), California’s unemployment rate shot up yet higher in the month of July, making the formerly Golden State’s unemployment rate the highest in the United States of America.
For reference, the bad news comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom fights with President Donald Trump in what many think is Governor Newsom attempting to set himself up for a successful 2028 presidential run by presenting himself as the main, best, and most serious opponent to the Trump Administration. His attempts to do so have included not just incendiary speeches, but ridiculous attempts to mimic President Trump online.
In any case, the information revealed by the California EDD shows that, as of its data from July of 2025: “California gained 15,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July 2025 and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.5 percent, according to the latest Employment Development Department (EDD) data that comes from two separate surveys. July’s job gain follows a downward-revised job loss of 9,500 for June 2025.”
Additionally, the EDD noted that “The number of Californians employed in June was 18,763,000, a loss of 7,600 persons from June’s total of 18,770,600 and up 138,800 from the employment total in July 2024” and “The number of unemployed Californians was 1,088,600 in July, an increase of 18,200 over the month and up 31,800 in comparison to July 2024.”
Commenting on the data, which the EDD did its best to present in a cheery light, the San Francisco Chronicle noted that it is really quite bad, as the news “[pushed] the unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage points from June to the highest rate since December. California’s rate was higher than the national unemployment rate of 4.2% in July.”
Further, the San Francisco Chronicle noted that former California EDD head Michael Bernick described the job market in the state by saying, “It’s brutal out there,” pointing to artificial intelligence automating away many entry-level jobs and tech companies shedding many jobs that they overhired for during the pandemic.
In some minor good news for the state, those drawing on unemployment benefits are down somewhat from last year. The EDD noted, “In related data that figures into the State’s unemployment rate, there were 386,665 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits during the July 2025 sample week. That compares to 387,555 people in June and 400,294 people in July 2024.”
Further, that same section of the report noted that claims fell somewhat month over month, noting, “Concurrently, 41,860 initial claims were processed in the July 2025 sample week, which was a month-over decrease of 4,769 claims from June and a year-over decrease of 66 claims from July 2024.”
Conservatives on X took the opportunity to note how bad this makes Newsom look. For example, the “MAGA Voice” X account chimed in and wrote, “California is leading the Nation for the highest unemployment rate 2 months in a row. I pray Gavin Newscum runs in 2028, This would be a blessing 🙏”
Similarly, Federalist Senior Legal Correspondent Margot Cleveland joked about Newsom’s attempts at redistricting, saying, “If California replaces the 9 Republicans in their Congressional delegation with Democrats, will that mean they will no longer be tied for last in state unemployment rate?”
