Shasta County had an average of 72,230 payroll jobs a month in January–March 2026, public and private, +2,101 (+3.0%) from a year earlier. Of those, 58,874 were private-sector jobs, +2,150 (+3.8%). Over the same year, private payroll jobs changed +0.9% in California and +0.3% nationally.
Biggest changes
Left out of the ranking until checked: 7 private industries above the size floor whose weekly pay moved 15% or more in a year; the notes name them. Among private industries with at least 100 jobs this quarter, these gained or lost the most jobs over the year, ranked by the number of jobs:
| Industry | Jobs | Change | % change | Same industry statewide, % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative and support services (staffing agencies, security, janitorial) | 4,439 | +1,335 | +43.0% | −0.5% |
| Social assistance (child care, family services, food banks) | 5,633 | +356 | +6.7% | +8.7% |
| Professional and technical services (lawyers, accountants, engineers, consultants) | 2,717 | +326 | +13.6% | +0.5% |
| Specialty trade contractors (electricians, plumbers, roofers) | 2,188 | −260 | −10.6% | −1.8% |
| Ambulatory health care (doctors' offices, clinics, home health) | 5,176 | +234 | +4.7% | +2.9% |
| Utilities (power, water and sewer systems) | 776 | +204 | +35.7% | −0.4% |
| Nursing and residential care (nursing homes, assisted living, group homes) | 3,119 | +152 | +5.1% | +4.0% |
| Restaurants and bars | 5,055 | −130 | −2.5% | +0.9% |
Changes in direction and pace
- Administrative and support services (staffing agencies, security, janitorial): more jobs added than the year before, from +261 jobs the year before to +1,335 this year.
- Social assistance (child care, family services, food banks): a reversal, from −16 jobs the year before to +356 this year.
- Specialty trade contractors (electricians, plumbers, roofers): more jobs lost than the year before, from −33 jobs the year before to −260 this year.
- Restaurants and bars: a reversal, from +80 jobs the year before to −130 this year.
- Couriers and messengers: a reversal, from +49 jobs the year before to −104 this year.
- Utilities (power, water and sewer systems): 6 years in a row of gains in the first quarter.
- Trucking: 6 years in a row of losses in the first quarter.
- Building material and garden stores: 5 years in a row of losses in the first quarter.
- Grocery and beverage stores: 5 years in a row of losses in the first quarter.
- Administrative and support services (staffing agencies, security, janitorial): 5 years in a row of gains in the first quarter.
Notes
- Left out of the ranking, since average weekly pay changed by 15% or more in a year: heavy and civil engineering construction (roads, bridges, pipelines); nonmetallic mineral products manufacturing (concrete, glass, stone); computer and electronic products manufacturing; clothing and jewelry stores; banking and lending (banks, credit unions, lenders); company headquarters and management offices; private households (household employees).
How we calculated this
Changes compare a period with the same period a year earlier.Show the formula
change = value(this period) − value(same period last year); % change = change ÷ value(same period last year) × 100
County figures are shown next to California and the United States for the same period.Show the formula
the same measure for California and the United States in the same period; where a change is shown for them, the same change formula
Direction and pace compare this year's job change with last year's, quarter to same quarter.Show the formula
pace = change(this year) − change(last year). Reversal: the two changes have opposite signs. Acceleration: same direction, larger change. Deceleration: same direction, smaller or equal change. Flagged when |pace| ≥ 100 and the industry has at least 100 jobs.
A streak counts consecutive years of change in the same direction for the same quarter, in years the industry met the ranking's size floor.Show the formula
streak = number of consecutive years, ending this year, whose change from the year before has the same sign (no change ends a streak); jobs must meet the ranking's size floor in every year of it, the base year included.
An industry whose weekly pay moves 15% or more in a year is left out of rankings until checked; one whose pay moves 50% or more while its jobs move 30% or more is treated as a possible reclassification.Show the formula
Review when |weekly pay % change| ≥ 15. Possible reclassification when |weekly pay % change| ≥ 50 and |jobs % change| ≥ 30.
Industries are ranked by job change only if they had at least 100 jobs in the quarter shown.Show the formula
Size floor for job rankings = 100
A change in pace is flagged when this year's job change differs from last year's by 100 or more jobs.Show the formula
Change in pace = 100
Only industries with at least 100 jobs are checked for changes in direction or pace.Show the formula
Size floor for changes in pace = 100
A run of 3 or more years moving the same way, compared quarter to same quarter, is called out.Show the formula
Streaks called out = 3
These figures cover payroll jobs reported to the state's unemployment insurance program. Self-employed workers, most religious organizations and uniformed military are not included. The state does not publish figures that would identify an employer, so some industries are missing from the tables.
Source: California EDD, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, data released 2026-10-01.
