California AI Unemployment Tracker
California is the first US state to officially monitor AI-driven job displacement. It uses Anthropic's own AI exposure measure (Claude task-coverage share) to classify occupations. Here's what the data actually shows — and what California won't say about it.
AI Exposure Score of UI Claimants — 2017 to 2026
Each month, California measures the average AI-exposure score of all people filing for unemployment insurance. A rising score means people losing jobs are increasingly concentrated in AI-exposed occupations. Using Anthropic's Claude task-coverage measure.
Source: California Policy Lab CAIT, June 2026. Anthropic measure = Claude task-coverage share per occupation.
Top-25% AI-Exposed Jobs: Share of UI Claims
If AI had no effect on unemployment, the most AI-exposed 25% of occupations would account for ~25% of UI claims. They account for 38–43%. They have been overrepresented since before ChatGPT — but the overrepresentation persists and has not reversed.
By Industry — AI Exposure Score (2026)
Average AI-exposure score of UI claimants by industry, 2026 to date.
By Age Group — AI Exposure Score (2025–26)
36–45 age group has highest AI exposure among UI claimants. 16–24 year olds are least exposed.
Management (AI score 0.90), Finance & Insurance (0.86), and Professional Services (0.78) are the three most AI-exposed industries currently filing for unemployment in California. These are not low-skill jobs being automated. These are the professions that consultants, economists, and government bodies said were "augmented not replaced."
The average AI-exposure score of UI claimants rose from 0.252 (pre-ChatGPT 2022) to 0.309 in 2026 — a structural shift that tracks the deployment of frontier models, not economic cycles. California is not willing to say this in its press releases. The data says it anyway.
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Data: California AI Unemployment Tracker (CAIT), California Policy Lab & Employment Development Department. Updated monthly. Download: CAIT XLSX →