Bay Area and California bounce back with job gains after prior losses

The Bay Area bounced back in April from prior job losses with sturdy employment gains, adding thousands of jobs in an upswing that was powered by a big increase in South Bay hiring, a new state report shows.

California managed job gains last month, adding 17,700 positions in April, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.

The Bay Area gained 4,200 jobs in April, defying predictions by some experts that the gyrations in the federal government’s tariff efforts would throttle hiring activity in the region and statewide. All of the Bay Area and California numbers were adjusted for seasonal variations.

The South Bay added 2,900 jobs in April, making the Santa Clara County-San Benito County region the primary area that fueled the Bay Area’s upswing in hiring.

The East Bay, consisting of the Alameda County-Contra Costa County region, gained 800 jobs.

The San Francisco-San Mateo area was the only Bay Area metro center that shed employment in April, with a loss of 100 jobs, the EDD report showed.

The statewide unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3% in April, the EDD reported.

Despite the one-month improvement for California and the Bay Area, job markets in the state and Bay Area continue to wobble in 2025.

The Bay Area lost 14,700 jobs over the first four months of 2025, even with the uplift from the April job gains. California lost 32,300 jobs during the first four months of 2025.

The gains in April snapped a three-month losing streak for the Bay Area and California. The state and the Bay Area both lost jobs in January, February and March.

Despite the upswing last month, California remains one of the nation’s weakest job markets so far in 2025, in a ranking among the 50 states.

While unchanged in April compared with March, the California unemployment rate is far higher than the record-low 3.8% unemployment rate the state achieved in August 2022.