Data shows that health care and food service are among the occupations projected to be adding jobs in California by 2033.

It’s a topic that may be especially relevant to job hunters following the news that U.S. employers added 911,000 fewer jobs than previously realized in a 12-month period ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported.

While revisions by the bureau to the employment estimates are expected, the latest revision comes amid a recent, “disappointing” jobs report for August, USA TODAY reported — employers added 22,000 jobs, showing “little change since April,” said the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which Occupations Will See Job Growth in California? A Look at Health Care

The California Employment Development Department’s occupational employment projections data provides insights as to which jobs are forecasted to grow within 10 years, with this data’s base year being 2023. The data — which lists broad groups of occupations to more detailed, specific jobs — indicates that by 2033, various jobs within health care are forecasted to experience job growth in the tens of thousands.

One of the broad occupational categories encompasses home health and personal care aides, nursing assistants, orderlies, and psychiatric aides. As a whole, it’s forecasted to see 305,800 jobs gained in this period, making it the second-highest projected job growth across all the categories of occupations reported in the data.

More specifically, home health and personal care aides — individuals who assist people with disabilities or chronic illnesses in homes, group homes, and more, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics — are forecasted to grow by 296,700 workers.

The occupational employment projections data categorizes occupations in line with a system used by federal statistical agencies. That system, known as the Standard Occupational Classification system, organizes jobs into broad categories and more detailed occupations.

For example, the broad category of healthcare practitioners and technical occupations is projected to gain 113,500 jobs by 2033. This category includes dentists and dental hygienists, physician assistants, physical therapists, pharmacists, registered nurses, and more, or the detailed, more specific occupations. And registered nurses, as a whole, is projected to see some of the most job growth across all of the more specific occupations in the data, with 33,800 jobs gained by 2033.

See the Top, Specific Occupations With the Most Job Gains Between 2023 to 2033:

• Home health and personal care aids: +296,700 jobs gained
• Fast food and counter workers: +70,700 jobs gained
• Software developers: +53,100 jobs gained
• Cooks in restaurants: +45,300 jobs gained
• Registered nurses: +33,800 jobs gained
• Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (Those who manually move freight, stock, luggage or other materials, or perform other general labor, said BLS): +31,300 jobs gained
• Stockers and order fillers (Those involved in receiving, storing or issuing merchandise from stockrooms, warehouse,s and storage yards to fill shelves or customers’ orders, said BLS): +30,500 jobs gained
• Waiters and waitresses: +26,800 jobs gained

Zooming back out to broader categories, jobs related to food service remain among the occupations seeing the most job growth by 2033. For example, food preparation and serving related occupations, a broad category encompassing jobs such as cooks, waiters, hosts, fast food workers, and more, are projected to see a gain of 221,600 jobs by 2033. More specifically, food and beverage serving workers (which includes bartenders, fast food workers, and waiters) are projected to see an employment gain of 111,800 by 2033.

The projections are based on several assumptions, including about the U.S. economy and employment patterns, and the data are estimates, the California Employment Development Department said. The state department noted that while projections are estimates of the expected demand for occupations, the supply of people qualified for the occupations will affect the competition for the openings. A full view of the methodology can be found at labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov.

What Is the Unemployment Rate in California?

The unemployment rate in California in July was 5.5%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate was 4.3% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the most part, the unemployment rate in the state has gradually increased since August 2022 after dramatically rising during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to 16.1% before dropping throughout the following year.

For several of California’s large metro areas, the unemployment rate increased from July 2024 to July. The unemployment rate in Fresno grew from 8.1% to 8.6%, making it the highest unemployment rate among the nation’s largest metro areas, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, one metro area saw a slight decrease in the unemployment rate from July 2024 to this past July. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro’s unemployment rate dropped from 6.1% to 6%.

Here’s a Look at the Unemployment Rate Across Several California Metros:

• Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom: 5.1% unemployment rate in July 2024 that grew to 5.6% in July 2025.
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario: 5.9% unemployment rate in July 2024 that grew to 6.4% in July 2025.
• San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont: 4.6% unemployment rate in July 2024 that grew to 4.9% in July 2025
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara: 4.7% unemployment rate in July 2024 that grew to 4.9% in July 2025
• San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad: 4.8% unemployment rate in July 2024 that grew to 5.2% in July 2025

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USA TODAY reporter Andrea Riquier contributed to this story.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: What jobs are growing in California? See forecast after U.S. adds less jobs than realized
Reporting by Paris Barraza, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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