March 2020 was the start of unprecedented job losses in California, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order. The state lost 2,758,900 jobs in just two months. It has taken two years for the state to get most of them back. New numbers released show the state has recovered 2,463,400 of those jobs lost during the pandemic, or 89.2%. California accounted for 14% of job growth nationally in March as the state has posted gains in 13 out of the past 14 months. The state’s enormous job growth has been driven by increased demand from consumers, who have more money to spend thanks to billions of dollars in state and federal government spending during the pandemic. Business owners have consistently reported difficulty hiring workers to keep up with demand. The shortage has driven up wages for workers, gains that have been offset by rising inflation that have increased costs for food, gasoline and other products.
