Real-time labor market data · June 2026
A quiet month masks a resilient year
Nonfarm payrolls edged up just 600 in June, the smallest monthly move since spring, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.1%. Look past the month, though, and the year-over trend is steady: 2,100 jobs added since June 2025, with private education and health services doing most of the work.
The two-year trend
June's 4.1% is a step up from May's two-year low of 3.5%, though still well within the range the county has held since late 2024.
Swipe left to see the full two-year chart →
What moved this month
Leisure and hospitality led June's modest gains, up 1,400 jobs, followed by construction, up 1,100. Government pulled back the most, down 1,800 jobs, alongside a 1,300-job dip in private education and health services.
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 added 13,600 jobs over the year, once again the county's largest source of growth, while government's 17,100-job decline remained the biggest drag.
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, split between health care (+10,400) and private education (+3,200).
Leisure and hospitality jobs gained over the year.
Government jobs lost over the year, the largest sectoral decline of the year.
Manufacturing jobs lost over the year.
Where Orange County stands among California's 58 counties
Orange County tied for seventh-lowest unemployment in the state in June, alongside Sierra County.
| Rank | County | Labor force | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Mateo | 406,800 | 3.6% |
| 2 | San Francisco | 496,600 | 3.7% |
| 3 | Marin | 122,400 | 4.0% |
| 3 | Mono | 8,800 | 4.0% |
| 3 | Napa | 75,000 | 4.0% |
| 3 | Santa Clara | 1,020,300 | 4.0% |
| 7 | Orange | 1,596,100 | 4.1% |
| 7 | Sierra | 1,600 | 4.1% |
| 9 | Placer | 206,300 | 4.2% |
| 9 | Santa Barbara | 225,300 | 4.2% |
Statewide, California's labor force stands at 19,380,900, with an unemployment rate of 5.2%.
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: June 2026 (preliminary), with the prior month revised and the prior-year June for comparison.