Coronavirus Impact: California Unemployment Rate Jumped To 5.3% In March

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's unemployment rate jumped to 5.3% in March, up. from 3.9% the previous month amid the coronavirus pandemic and abruptly ending the state's record jobs expansion of 120 months, the Employment Development Department said Friday.

Employers lost 99,500 non-farm jobs during the period.

The employment data reflects the survey week of March 12 and partially predates the economic impact created by the COVID-19 outbreak, the department said.

The increase of 1.4 percentage points from February to March was the state's largest unemployment rate increase on record in a data series going back to 1976, the department said.

California had gained more than 3.4 million jobs during the decade-long jobs expansion, which surpassed the expansion of the 1960s.

The unemployment rate for April will be released on May 22.

The Employment Development Department said Thursday that it had processed 2.7 million new unemployment insurance claims between March 15 and April 11.