The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education has evaluated changes in employment, wages, and job composition in the United States and California using household survey data and other sources through June of 2006. The study found that job growth was moderate in both the United States and California, but has not returned to pre-recessionary levels. California added 172,000 jobs between July of 2005 and July of 2006, and the nation added 1.7 million net jobs over this period. Both figures represent a slight decline from the previous year. The unemployment rate in both the United States and California declined to 4.8% in 2006, virtually matching the lowest level of unemployment in California in the last boom period. Productivity and corporate profits have posted strong gains throughout the recovery, with productivity growing by 2.7% between 2005 and 2006 and by a total of 12.3% since the recovery began in 2002. Pre-tax corporate profits rose by 12.5% after adjusting for inflation between 2004 and 2005 (latest year available), and by a total of 38.8% since 2002.
