California Posts 15,000 New Jobs in July, Bay Area Edges Up Despite Wobbly Tech

(TNS) — The Bay Area and California bounced back with job gains in July by adding thousands of positions last month, a welcome upswing after both regions suffered employment losses in June, state labor officials reported Friday.

Employers in the Bay Area added 2,800 jobs in July, the state Employment Development Department reported. In June, the Bay Area lost 1,700 jobs.

“The Bay Area labor market outlook remains on shaky ground despite the bounce back in jobs in July,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist with BMO Capital Markets.

The tech industry’s wobbly status is one big reason for the murky outlook in the Bay Area, in Anderson’s view.

“The region’s information technology job growth engine has been unreliable this year,” Anderson said.

California employers added 15,000 jobs in July as the statewide unemployment rate worsened, the EDD reported.

The Bay Area’s job performance in July was propelled by significant job gains for all three of the Bay Area’s major urban centers, according to the numbers posted by the state EDD.

The East Bay gained 900 jobs in July, while the South Bay added 800 jobs, and the San Francisco-San Mateo region also gained 800 positions last month. The EDD numbers were adjusted for seasonal volatility and measured nonfarm payroll jobs.

In the North Bay, Sonoma County added 400 jobs, Marin County added 100 positions, Napa County had no changes in job totals, while Solano County lost 200 jobs in July, according to the EDD report.

The jobless rate in California rose to 5.5% in July, up from a rate of 5.4% in June. The July figure was the highest since December, a month that also produced a 5.5% level of unemployment, the state labor agency reported.

California lost 9,500 jobs in June, according to the state Employment Development Department’s monthly labor report. The new estimate was revised downward from the original calculation by the state EDD.

So far in 2025, California has lost 9,700 jobs, this news organization’s assessment of the EDD’s monthly reports determined.

The Bay Area job market is far weaker than California’s overall employment picture this year.

Over the first seven months of 2025, the Bay Area lost 17,400 jobs, the assessment of the EDD reports shows.

The San Francisco-San Mateo region is the weakest of the Bay Area’s three major urban centers, with a loss of 8,100 jobs so far in 2025. During the same seven-month stretch, the East Bay lost 8,100 jobs.

The South Bay was not nearly as weak as its urban siblings and lost 1,900 jobs over the first seven months of this year.

Economists emphasized that the Bay Area still faces a rocky ride through the rest of 2025, even with the lift from the July job gains.

“A weaker labor market nationally and across the state will keep a lid on the Bay Area’s labor market performance,” Anderson said.

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