Real-time labor market data · May 2026
Unemployment falls to 3.5%, the lowest in two years
Orange County's unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in May, its lowest point on record in this data, as leisure and hospitality added 3,900 jobs, the most of any sector. Nonfarm payrolls are still down 7,300 from a year ago, driven almost entirely by a steep decline in local government.
The two-year trend
May's 3.5% is the low point of the past two years, capping a steady climb down from last summer's 4.8% peak.
Swipe left to see the full two-year chart →
What moved this month
Leisure and hospitality led May's gains, adding 3,900 jobs across accommodation, food service, and entertainment. Professional and business services posted the month's only notable decline, down 800 jobs.
Bar lengths are scaled to keep smaller changes visible; exact figures are shown beside each bar.
The twelve-month view
Private education and health services and leisure and hospitality together added 17,000 jobs over the year, but government's 16,800-job decline kept the year-over total negative.
Bar lengths are scaled to keep smaller changes visible; exact figures are shown beside each bar.
Private education and health services added over the year.
Leisure and hospitality jobs gained over the year.
Government jobs lost over the year, 90% of it in local government (−15,200).
Manufacturing jobs lost over the year.
Where Orange County stands among California's 58 counties
Orange County tied for fifth-lowest unemployment in the state in May, alongside Mono County.
| Rank | County | Labor force | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Mateo | 404,500 | 3.1% |
| 2 | San Francisco | 494,300 | 3.3% |
| 3 | Marin | 122,500 | 3.4% |
| 3 | Santa Clara | 1,021,400 | 3.4% |
| 5 | Mono | 8,520 | 3.5% |
| 5 | Orange | 1,598,200 | 3.5% |
| 7 | Napa | 75,100 | 3.6% |
| 7 | Placer | 206,600 | 3.6% |
| 7 | San Luis Obispo | 132,200 | 3.6% |
| 10 | Inyo | 8,290 | 3.7% |
Statewide, California's labor force stands at 19,475,800, with an unemployment rate of 4.7%.
Source: California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division. Figures cover the Anaheim–Santa Ana–Irvine Metropolitan Division (Orange County), not seasonally adjusted. Industry employment is by place of work and excludes the self-employed; labor force and unemployment figures are by place of residence and include the self-employed. Data may not sum exactly due to rounding, and labor force estimates are revised in subsequent months.
Reference period: May 2026 (preliminary), with the prior month revised and the prior-year May for comparison.