High population growth because the state rebounded quickly from the 1980 and 1981-1982 recessions.
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1hsqWhich attracted lots of newcomers from all around the country and illegal immigrants. California was
the destination for illegal immigration from south of the border, California was replaced only now by Texas as a larger inflow of illegal immigration since the Texas Economy has done better than California post-2001.
Strangely enough lots of texans moved to Cali at that time for work which is the trend opposite of today. When the texas economy floundered in the 80s due to the crash of the oil industry which was soaring in the high oil prices of the 70s.
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1hsqYou can see high population growth in the state in the 80's. Which dropped dramatically in the 1990 recession. Then a slight rebound in the large late 90's economic boom. And then dropping back to lows after the 2001 crash. Population growth has been muted since and the new job migration is to Texas rather than Cali.
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1hsrCali isnt doing as bad as people say it is....
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CANA
