• California is a national leader in job creation with 273,100 new jobs created in the last year and 756,900 new jobs created since the recovery began in February 2010. (California Employment Development Department)

• California's job growth rate of 1.9% is outpacing the national average which means we are adding more jobs at a faster rate. And the state’s unemployment rate is at 9.0 percent – the lowest rate in four years. (California Employment Development Department)

• Due to California’s diverse industry mix the state added jobs in multiple high paying sectors such as business and professions, healthcare, education, trade and transportation, information, and finance. All of these sectors posted significant increases over the last year. (California Employment Development Department)

• The California construction industry grew by 7.7 percent in the last year, one of the highest in the nation.  (California Employment Development Department)
  

• California is by far the number one state for manufacturing both in jobs and output. Manufacturers in California account for 11.7 percent of the total output in the state, employing almost 9 percent of the workforce. Total output from manufacturing was $229.9 billion in 2011, significantly more than any other state. (National Association of Manufacturers)

• Information technology jobs have exceeded pre-recession levels. (California Employment Development Department)

• California healthcare jobs maintained consistent growth through the recession, adding 27,500 jobs per year. (University of the Pacific Economic Forecasting Center)

• California has the highest number of ‘Green jobs’ in the U.S. with over 318,000 people employed in high paying green and cleantech positions. (California Employment Development Department)

• California’s 2,324 biomedical companies employ 267,000 people. This industry accounts for $115 billion in annual revenues – which is more than the annual Gross State Product of 18 U.S. states. (California Healthcare Institute)

• 3.5 million California small businesses account for 99% of the state's employers and employ 52% of the workforce. (U.S. Small Business Administration)

• California received 50% of all venture capital financing in the U.S in 2011, by far the most in the U.S. (Ernst and Young Venture Capital Report)

• California is the No. 1 state for agriculture revenues, with $34.8 billion in revenue representing 12.3 percent of the U.S. total. (California Department of Food and Agriculture)

• California is the No. 1 state for attracting foreign direct investment. (Congressional Research Service)

• California has more Fortune 500 companies than any other state, 53 in total. (Fortune Magazine)

Numbers Current as of 5/17/12