Job Search Pressure Atlas
Job Search Pressure in California
How much competition there is for each advertised opening, how that compares with the rest of the country, and how it has moved.
December 2025 · ranked 4th of 51 · data retrieved 2026-08-22
Unemployed per job opening
1.62
4th of 51
80th percentile of 107 months of California history
- Job openings
- 674,000
- Unemployed people
- 1,093,176
- Openings rate
- 3.6%
- Hires rate
- 3.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.5%
How difficult is California relative to other states?
In December 2025 there were 1.62 unemployed people for every job opening in California, which ranks 4th of 51 states and the District of Columbia — among the most competitive in the country. The national figure that month was 1.15. Against California's own history since 2016, this is the 80th percentile: more competition than in 80 per cent of the months measured.
Against the nation
0.47 people more per opening than the national figure of 1.15.
Against a year earlier
Down 0.01 from 1.63 in December 2024, moving 3 places down the ranking.
History
California since 2016.
Unemployed people per job opening, every month. The break is the COVID window, excluded as structurally unreliable.
California ranged from 0.57 in July 2022 to 1.94 in March 2021, and currently reads 1.62. The dashed accent line is the national figure for the same month, 1.15.
The gap in the line is March 2020 to February 2021, excluded because a mass layoff and rehire makes the ratio describe something other than job-search conditions.
Nearby
California and the states around it.
California has 0.05 more unemployed people per opening than the average of the states it borders.
Method
Where these figures come from.
1,093,176 unemployed people divided by 674,000 job openings gives 1.62. Both figures are seasonally adjusted BLS estimates for December 2025 — openings from the state Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, unemployment from Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
The period is December 2025 rather than the current month because state JOLTS runs behind the national series. The national Job Search Friction Index covers June 2026 and conditions have moved since.
A state average conceals a lot. California is not uniform, and this figure says nothing about whether the openings in it match the people looking for work. The methodology sets out what the measure can and cannot support.
Cite this
Jobsearch.ing, “Job Search Pressure in California”, December 2025. 1.62 unemployed people per job opening, ranked 4th of 51. Source data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved 2026-08-22. Methodology version 1.0.0. https://jobsearch.ing/job-market/states/california//