California Study Finds AI Raises Unemployment Claims for Educated Workers

California’s first AI unemployment tracker found a 20% rise among highly educated claimants in exposed jobs.

Researchers matched unemployment claims to occupations where LLMs can handle major task shares.

The job stress appeared in narrower places, especially college graduates, Bay Area workers, and tech sectors.

Bay Area high-exposure claims rose more than 50%, then remained above the statewide pattern.

Information and professional services showed the most industry pressure, alongside finance-heavy exposure.

AI is not hitting California’s whole labor market evenly, but white-collar risk looks real.

Overall, there was no evidence, von Wachter said, of a larger statewide surge in layoffs among workers.