The economy has been a major focus point for Americans across the country. It’s no secret that during the four years of the Biden administration, the economy has simply not been very strong at all. Inflation, gas and grocery prices have all been on the rise. Yet for some reason there are Democrats at both the federal and state level that claim that the economy is in a good spot.

The American people haven’t bought into that lie however, as they overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump to be their next president, partly because they felt as though he’d be able to come in and fix the economic struggles that many United States citizens are facing. But despite that mandate from U.S. voters, there are still some Democrat politicians who are touting what they feel is a strong economy.

California Governor Gavin Newsom in particular is one of these Democrats. He decided that now would be a good time to brag about how California has been a leader in job growth. But he made a fatal mistake by opening the champagne bottle just a little too soon regarding this alleged accomplishment. Thanks to new federal data, Newsom’s job growth numbers aren’t exactly what they seem.

California Job Losses in 2024 Challenge Newsom’s Growth Claims

California lost 156,300 jobs in the first half of 2024, according to newly released federal payroll data. This figure directly contradicts Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent assertions about job growth in the state. Across the country, politicians often rely on optimistic preliminary job survey data to highlight economic progress. However, these initial estimates are frequently revised downward when more comprehensive payroll data is finalized.

In California, the adjusted payroll numbers for June 2024 show 17,881,600 jobs, compared to 18,037,900 jobs in January, reflecting a substantial loss over six months. In contrast, preliminary survey data cited by Newsom’s office estimated 18,054,300 jobs in June — an overestimate of 172,700 jobs. This drop in employment bucks a typical seasonal trend where jobs increase during summer. For example, during the same period in 2023, California added 50,800 jobs.

Despite the data, Newsom’s office recently celebrated California’s economic performance, pointing to early job estimates. “California is the strongest economy in the nation, with one of the country’s most equitable tax systems, and standing ahead of all other states,” said Newsom’s office in a statement. “Between January 2022 and June 2024, employers in California created more than 672,000 jobs.” Yet, using the finalized payroll data, job growth since January 2022 amounts to 499,600 jobs — a difference of 172,000 from the figures touted by Newsom.

The state’s employment recovery has been shaped by the pandemic’s lasting effects. Newsom only lifted California’s stay-at-home order in late January 2021, and many cities, such as Los Angeles, retained pandemic-related restrictions well into 2022. As a result, much of the job “growth” in recent years reflects a rebound from losses incurred during lockdowns. The Biden administration also used rebound jobs from COVID to inflate their job growth numbers as well, particularly during the 2024 election cycle when President Joe Biden was still running for a second term.

While @GavinNewsom parades around the state on his "Jobs First" tour, new numbers show just how badly he's failing on that issue.

Between March and June, CA lost nearly 80,000 jobs and claimed one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

Newsom isn't serious about jobs…

— James Gallagher (@J_GallagherAD3) December 17, 2024

Jason Sorens, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, notes that the inaccuracies in the job data are part of a broader national trend. “It’s a national problem. The rebench data show that nationally, the CES [Current Employment Statistics] overstated jobs by 942,000 in June 2024, the latest available month,” Sorens explained to The Center Square. “On average since October 2023, the CES has overstated jobs nationally by 340,000 each month.”

Sorens highlighted that smaller states, as well as places like Nevada, Missouri, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C., have seen the biggest proportional discrepancies in employment figures. He attributes this to the challenges of accurately surveying smaller, more volatile economies. “In general, smaller states are prone to bigger misses, as a percentage of actual employment, because their economics are more volatile and surveys are less likely to capture the accurate population of business establishments,” said Sorens. “The CES business survey is subject to some of the same problems and limitations as political surveys: nonresponse bias and general sampling error.”

California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), a nonpartisan entity funded by the state, has taken note of these inaccuracies. In response, the LAO announced it will adopt a hybrid employment tracking measure. “The monthly survey has overestimated net job growth by 25,000 jobs per month on average [since mid-2022],” the LAO stated. “Going forward, our office will focus on a hybrid measure of real-time employment changes that averages the monthly business survey and the monthly household survey (which has tracked final jobs figures more closely over the past two years) as part of our work to track the state’s labor market.”

As California grapples with shifting economic data, the discrepancy between preliminary reports and final payroll numbers raises questions about the accuracy of job growth claims and the state’s economic trajectory. It also serves as a frustrating reminder that politicians like Governor Gavin Newsom continue to ignore the disturbing trends that we’re seeing with the U.S. economy. Especially with it being the Christmas season, Americans are finding out that their hard earned paychecks just aren’t going to the lengths that they used to. And when politicians find it necessary to ignore these economic struggles and instead brag about incorrect job growth data, it shows Americans just how untrustworthy the government really is.

How do you view the current economic climate in the U.S.? Were you frustrated by Gavin Newsom falsely claiming high job growth in his state? Let us know in the comments below!