California is bragging about job growth. So why were there fewer jobs in February?

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“The state’s jobs market expansion turned 46 months old in February 2024,” the state’s Employment Development Department press release said.

But California’s payroll job numbers were down in February. Fewer people were employed. The unemployment rate was the highest in the country. So how was this an expansion?

It depends on how you see the meaning of the word expansion

The widely accepted authority on the nation’s economic trends is the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit economic organization that tracks the business cycle.

The last recession, or sustained economic downturn, lasted for two months. It ended in April 2020, when COVID ravaged the economy. Since then, the economy has expanded. Seen from that longer term perspective, job numbers have grown since the recession. California has gained 3.03 million jobs since February 2020, just before the pandemic hit.

But the state lost payroll jobs this February, the most recent month that data were available.

The March 22 press release from EDD, which manages California’s unemployment program, has these details:

▪ Payroll jobs: California had 17.9 million nonfarm payroll jobs in February, down about 3,400 from January. The February figure, though, was up 179,700 from a year earlier.

▪ People employed: The total number of people employed in February was 18.3 million, down 20,100 from January and 82,600 from a year earlier, EDD reported. The jobs and employment numbers differ because they are measured in different ways.

▪ People unemployed: The number of people unemployed last month jumped to 1.027 million, up 13,100 over the month and up 165,400 from February 2023.

▪ Unemployment rate: The state’s February unemployment rate was 5.3%, the highest in the country. The national rate in February 2024 was 3.9%. In February 2023 the California rate was 4.5%.

Part of the reason for the February drop was the severe weather that battered parts of the state this winter. Machinery and equipment jobs were also down.

Loree Levy, EDD spokeswoman, explained the expansion comment, saying that “our labor market folks always look at the economy in terms of expansions and recessions.”

To economists, expansion means a period of growth, and officially, the country and state economies have continued to grow.

“Monthly estimates do tend to bounce up and down from month to month, varying in magnitude and at times direction,” Levy said. “The labor market info folks tell us you can’t really read too much from a small job loss such as occurred in February 2024—especially one in which extenuating circumstances such as weather likely played a role.”

The state divides the payroll jobs numbers into 11 parts. Financial services jobs last month were off about 2,700 from January, while trade, transportation and utilities lost 7,300 and construction lost 9,600 jobs.

The private education and health services sector, though, gained 15,400 jobs, and the leisure and hospitality industry grew by 1,200 jobs. Professional and business services gained 1,900 jobs.

Levy urged looking at the broader picture. “Flat job growth that may involve small job gains or even small job losses over a several months period signals the economy is expanding — only slowly,” she said.