California Governor Gavin Newsom took to social media on Tuesday, boasting that his state had accounted for 18 percent of all jobs created nationwide this year, a fact, he claimed, "you won't hear...on Fox News."
The argument is a familiar one from Newsom, who frequently points to headline economic statistics to argue that California is thriving despite its heavy regulatory environment and the steady departure of businesses from the state. But as is often the case, the numbers become far less impressive upon closer examination.
This latest claim is no exception.
You won't hear this on Fox News.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) June 23, 2026
California has added 103,600 jobs so far this year — more than 18% of all jobs created nationwide. pic.twitter.com/sOHyZedTG6
"You won't hear this on Fox News," Newsom wrote on X. "California has added 103,600 jobs so far this year — more than 18% of all jobs created nationwide."
The only problem is that the figure is hardly something to brag about when it comes from the nation's most populous state.
California holds roughly 11.5 to 12 percent of the U.S. population, so leading the nation in raw job growth is hardly surprising. When those numbers are measured as a percentage of the workforce or on a per-capita basis, however, Newsom's supposed triumph looks far less impressive. Smaller states with more business-friendly environments often outperform the Golden State, in another blow to Newsom's regulatory empire.
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As a percentage of job growth, California sits at roughly 0.57 percent, while smaller states like Nevada and North Carolina significantly outperform it at 1.8 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. On a per-capita basis, California generated just 2.6 jobs per 1,000 residents, a sluggish figure for a state historically known for being on the cutting edge of technological innovation and industry.
These poor results are largely driven by California's regulatory environment, which makes hiring more expensive, more complicated, and riskier for employers. Small businesses, in particular, are forced to navigate mountains of paperwork, compliance costs, and legal liabilities before bringing on a single worker. Employers must then contend with clean-energy mandates, minimum wage requirements, benefits regulations, workplace safety rules, strict payroll and wage-hour laws, restrictions on AI-assisted hiring tools, and countless other regulations that make expanding a workforce increasingly burdensome.
Newsom's job record is further undermined by the state's persistently poor unemployment numbers. California's unemployment rate stands at 5.3 percent, a full percentage point above the national average.
In other words, adding 18 percent of the country's new jobs is not quite the accomplishment Gavin Newsom makes it out to be. It is largely a function of governing the nation's most populous state and inheriting an economy anchored by Silicon Valley and a world-leading technology sector that were established long before he took office.
The state's modest job growth, like many of the economic successes Newsom claims credit for, was set in motion well before his administration and has persisted despite California's regulatory burden, not because of it.
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