California isn't the only place reporting positive job growth. As GlobeSt.com recently reported, the Labor Department reported that the US economy added 165,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 7.5%. It was a better report than many had forecast, with projections of 145,000 jobs added widely circulated. The various industries scrambled to make sense of the numbers, at least in terms of their particular sector. The International Council of Shopping Centers, for example, noted that US shopping-center retail jobs rose by 33,000 — accounting for one-fifth of all the 165,000 jobs added in April. It also reported that another 38,000 people were hired by restaurants and bars, for a total that was slightly higher in this category than the Labor Department's. No matter—it is clear retail is helping to drive the US economic bus. "The shopping center industry is a crucial driver of the economic recovery," said ICSC President and CEO Michael P. Kercheval, in a prepared statement. "These numbers illustrate that retail and retail development is a major economic pillar."

Other positive findings for California from the Beacon Economics labor report include:

• The state unemployment rate, currently at 9.4%, continues on a slow but steady downward trend. March saw a 0.2 percentage point monthly decline in the unemployment rate, primarily from 30,500 people moving from unemployed to employed, but also including 14,900 workers who dropped out of the labor force. On a year-over-year basis the California unemployment rate is down 1.3 percentage points from 10.7% last March.
• The Professional and Business Services industry continues to be one of the main drivers of job growth in California. For the month of March, Professional and Business payrolls increased by 15,800 jobs, a 0.7% monthly increase. The bulk of the job increases came from the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector, which added 9,300 positions to company payrolls. The Leisure and Hospitality sector also saw strong job gains in March with 7,600 additional payroll positions, a 0.5% monthly increase.
• The Information industry saw the largest job gain on a percentage basis in March, adding 11,700 new positions for a 2.7% month-over-month gain. While this may seem quite impressive, we have to remember that Information sector employment saw substantial downward adjustments in the latest annual revisions by the California Employment Development Department. Given this, the importance of the latest month's job gains for the Information industry should be taken with a grain of salt.
• The majority of job losses were in the Retail Trade industry, which saw company payrolls contract by 5,400 jobs or 0.3%. Government and Manufacturing also saw further job losses, contracting by 2,200 and 3,300 jobs respectively, and appear to be continuing their multi-year downward trend in job growth.