Real-time labor market data · August 2026
A soft month, but government drove nearly all of it
Orange County's unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in August as nonfarm payrolls fell 5,400, the sharpest monthly drop since January. Nearly all of it traces to one place: state and local government cut a combined 4,300 jobs. Health care and education kept adding, and the county still has 4,300 more jobs than it did a year ago.
The two-year trend
August's 4.4% sits mid-range on the two-year chart, a step up from May's 3.5% low but still below last summer's 4.6% peak.
Swipe left to see the full two-year chart →
What moved this month
Government led August's decline by a wide margin, down 4,400 jobs, 82% of it in state and local government payrolls. Six other sectors posted smaller declines, while private education and health services added 1,800 jobs, the most of any sector.
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 10,100 jobs over the year, more than offsetting a 3,800-job decline in government and smaller losses elsewhere.
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, 81% of it in health care and social assistance (+8,200).
Leisure and hospitality jobs gained over the year.
Government jobs lost over the year.
Professional and business services jobs lost over the year.
Where Orange County stands among California's 58 counties
Orange County tied for sixth-lowest unemployment in the state in August, alongside Marin and Sierra counties.
| Rank | County | Labor force | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Mateo | 408,400 | 4.0% |
| 2 | San Francisco | 499,100 | 4.2% |
| 3 | Mono | 8,790 | 4.3% |
| 3 | Napa | 74,000 | 4.3% |
| 3 | Santa Clara | 1,034,300 | 4.3% |
| 6 | Marin | 122,700 | 4.4% |
| 6 | Orange | 1,601,900 | 4.4% |
| 6 | Sierra | 1,560 | 4.4% |
| 9 | Placer | 207,500 | 4.5% |
| 9 | Sonoma | 246,000 | 4.5% |
Statewide, California's labor force stands at 19,491,000, with an unemployment rate of 5.4%.
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: August 2026 (preliminary), with the prior month revised and the prior-year August for comparison.