California's April unemployment rate fell to 6.2 percent from 6.6 percent in March as payrolls expanded for the second straight month, rising modestly in nearly all business categories, the state's Employment Development Department said on Friday.
The state's April jobless rate trailed the month's US average of 5.6 percent, down from 5.7 percent in March.
Employers added a net 16,300 jobs in April from March, lifting the total number of payroll jobs in California to 14.48 million, marking the second consecutive month that payroll employment in the state reached a record high.
Only information businesses reported job losses for the month. They shed 5,300 positions while firms in all other categories tracked by the state added 21,600 jobs.
A separate household survey of jobs found 16.48 million Californians holding jobs, up by 65,000 from March.
The number of unemployed in the state fell by 71,000 in April from March and by 113,000 from a year earlier to 1.08 million, the lowest number of unemployed in California since November 2001.