Bay Area employers cut 6,800 jobs in the Bay Area in June, with all three of the region’s major metro areas enduring reduced employment levels, the state Employment Development Department reported.
“The Bay Area labor market continues to deteriorate, losing jobs and struggling to create any new ones,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist with BMO Capital Markets. “The net job losses last month were widespread across the region and surpassed the job losses seen at the state level.”
Adding to the dreary report: Among the 50 states, California now has the nation’s worst jobless rate, a dubious distinction it shares with Nevada.
“What stands out from today’s state jobs report is how California is falling further behind other states in terms of employment and job growth, and how the Bay Area is not serving as the main engine of job growth in the state,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney and former director of the state employment department.
The Bay Area’s job losses in June mark two straight months of employment declines in the region, according to information posted by the EDD.
The job losses last month included 3,300 in the South Bay; 2,900 in the East Bay and 700 in the San Francisco-San Mateo area, the state reported. All the numbers were adjusted for seasonal volatility.
In the North Bay, Marin County lost 100 positions and Solano County shed 200 jobs. Sonoma County gained 400 jobs. Napa County had no change in its job totals in June.
Marin’s unemployment rate ranked sixth in the state. The jobless rate was 4.5% in June, with about 5,600 out of work, the EDD said.
The California unemployment rate worsened to 5.4% in June, an increase from the 5.3% statewide jobless rate in May, the EDD reported.
With that 5.4% jobless rate, California tied neighboring Nevada as the highest among the 50 states, a review of information posted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.
In sharp contrast, Florida reported an unemployment rate of just 3.7%, while Texas posted a 4% jobless rate.
During the first half of 2025, California lost 21,300 jobs, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis of the EDD job statistics.
The Bay Area during the same six-month period was even worse than the statewide results, losing 25,300 jobs.
So far in 2025, all three of the Bay Area’s major metro regions are struggling.
Over the first six months of 2025, the San Francisco-San Mateo metro area lost 10,200 jobs, the East Bay shed 8,300 positions and the South Bay lost 6,100 jobs.
Here is how some key industries fared in June in the Bay Area, according to industry estimates produced by Beacon Economics.
The tech industry lost 4,700 jobs in June. Tech job losses totaled 1,800 in the San Francisco-San Mateo metro region, 1,700 in the East Bay and 1,300 in the South Bay, the Beacon estimates show.
Hotels and restaurants lost 100 jobs. Construction boomed in the Bay Area in June, adding 2,800 jobs. Construction jobs increased by 1,000 in the South Bay, by another 1,000 in the San Francisco-San Mateo region, and by 700 in the East Bay.
Artificial intelligence, lauded as a boon for the economy, hasn’t become a job creator for the Bay Area, some experts say.
“In the past we always waited for that next wave of innovation to create another Silicon Valley boom,” Hancock said. “That new wave has arrived, and it’s artificial intelligence, but this time it isn’t a job creator. It creates economic growth, but it doesn’t necessarily create jobs.”
Employment declines have hounded California and the Bay Area with regularity this year. The Bay Area and California both have experienced job losses in four of the six months so far in 2025.
“A high cost of living and waning job prospects are threatening to hobble Bay Area consumers and the region’s economy,” Anderson said. “The Bay Area labor market is now seriously lagging the state’s performance and is even further behind the nation’s.”
