​California added another 29,100 nonfarm payroll jobs in August. This is a slight acceleration from the 27,800 jobs created in July, which was revised down from an initial estimate of 38,100. The increase marks over two years of consecutive monthly job growth in the Golden State. The latest additions to company payrolls represent a 1.5% increase over last August and accounted for more than 17% of job creation in the nation overall. Additionally, household employment is up 2% year-over-year, indicative of a stronger labor market than even the payroll numbers suggest. The unemployment rate ticked up to 8.9% in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from 8.7% in July. However, the rate had fallen sharply between March and June, and the overall downward trend in unemployment has been consistent over the last few years. The Construction industry led the job gains this month, adding 7,700 new positions to company payrolls, a 1.3% increase in just one month. This is a sharp turnaround from last month’s initially reported 7,300 decline in Construction employment. However, July numbers were revised upward by 3,200 jobs. Given the uptick in residential permitting activity and real estate this year, Beacon Economics expects Construction employment to remain a bright spot for California employment in the months to come. The Administrative Support and the Education and Health sectors also contributed strong employment gains, adding 5,200 and 4,300 new jobs respectively. These industries have been leaders in California’s employment recovery over the last year and from the latest employment numbers it is apparent they are continuing in that role. The Manufacturing industry also added more payroll positions this month, 2,700 in Durable Goods Manufacturing and 600 in Nondurable Goods Manufacturing. This marks the fifth consecutive month of job gains for the industry, a welcome turnaround from the downward trend experienced over the years.  Government employment also edged up in August by 1,000 positions. The continued economic recovery, as well as Proposition 30 approved by voters last year, have increased revenues and allowed public sector agencies to add back jobs lost during the downturn.  Job losses this month were concentrated in the Wholesale and Retail industries, which declined by 2,600 and 2,400 jobs respectively. However these industries, particularly Wholesale Trade, have shown strong employment gains recently, so a pullback in the payroll estimates does not come as much of a surprise. The Information industry also posted a 3,400 decline in payroll positions in August. Regionally, the bulk of the August job gains were concentrated in Southern California. Inland Empire (+0.8%), Orange County (+0.6%), and Los Angeles County (+0.5%) each contributed heavily to August's nonfarm job gains in terms of month-over-month growth and overall number of jobs added. In Northern California the San Jose area increased payroll positions by 0.9% over last month, and while not as strong, Oakland (+0.2%) and San Francisco (+0.2%) also saw increases to nonfarm payrolls. The job losses for August were concentrated in smaller metropolitan areas, with San Luis Obispo (-2.1%) leading the declines.