The Bay Area added 15,000 jobs in January, gains that accounted for a significant portion of positions added throughout California during the first month of the year, a new state government report released Friday shows.
California added 93,500 non-farm payroll jobs in January as the statewide unemployment rate improved to 5.4%, compared with a December rate of 5.5%.
Downtown Oakland, seen in a drone photo in February 2026. The Tribune Tower is visible in the center of the picture. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Increases in the region were aided by robust hiring in the South Bay, San Francisco-San Mateo region, and East Bay, the state Employment Development Department reported.
The additions represented a welcome counterpoint to what occurred during much of 2025, when job losses consistently haunted the Bay Area.
Hiring trends in the region’s tech sector accounted for the uneven performance of the Bay Area job market in 2025, according to seasonally adjusted estimates produced by Beacon Economics that were derived from the official EDD reports.
In January, the South Bay gained 4,500 jobs, the East Bay added 2,800, and the San Francisco-San Mateo region added 5,700, according to the EDD. All numbers were adjusted for seasonal volatility.
In the North Bay, Sonoma County added 1,200 jobs and Solano County gained 900. Napa County job totals were unchanged and Marin County lost 100 jobs in January.
Statewide, some of the largest job gains during January occurred in the population-heavy urban centers of Southern California.
Los Angeles County added 29,200 jobs, Orange County gained 8,100, the Riverside County-San Bernardino County region gained 8,000, and San Diego County added 7,700.