Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Santa Cruz fell 0.3 percentage points in December 2011 to 11.3%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than the California rate. The unemployment rate in Santa Cruz peaked in February 2010 at 12.9% and is now 1.6 percentage points lower. You can also compare Santa Cruz unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	8.5%	-0.2	-0.9
California	11.1%	-0.2	-1.4
Santa Cruz	11.3%	-0.3	-1.5

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with December 2011 data as January metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Santa Cruz, California, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Santa Cruz, California Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Santa Cruz peaked in December 2010 at 19,176. There are now 1,962 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Santa Cruz employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Santa Cruz, California) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
Santa Cruz	17,214	-365	-1,962

Number of Unemployed Persons

Santa Cruz, California Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	California Unemployment Rate	Santa Cruz Unemployment Rate	Santa Cruz Unemployed
January 2012	8.3%	—	—	—
December 2011	8.5%	11.1%	11.3%	17,214
November 2011	8.7%	11.3%	11.6%	17,579
October 2011	8.9%	11.7%	11.9%	18,061
September 2011	9.0%	11.9%	12.1%	18,176
August 2011	9.1%	12.1%	12.4%	18,363
July 2011	9.1%	12.0%	12.5%	18,467
June 2011	9.1%	11.8%	12.5%	18,440
May 2011	9.0%	11.7%	12.3%	18,333
April 2011	9.0%	11.8%	12.4%	18,518
March 2011	8.9%	12.0%	12.4%	18,590
February 2011	9.0%	12.1%	12.5%	18,697
January 2011	9.1%	12.4%	12.7%	19,003