Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California Job Growth

There were 85,800 jobs in Santa Cruz, California in May 2020 according to the CES survey of employers. The CPS survey of households showed 109,508 employed persons for the month. Santa Cruz lost 1,200 jobs in May 2020 according to the CES survey while the broader CPS measure of employment fell by 3,678 (Comparing CES and CPS employment numbers.). You can also compare Santa Cruz job growth to job growth in other cities.

Employment Survey	May 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
CES	85,800	-1,200	-17,500
CPS	109,508	-3,678	-24,970

Note: The CPS survey data is now seasonally adjusted at the metropolitan level by with the new BLS SSA series.

Santa Cruz, California Employment Changes

The charts below show the monthly job growth for Santa Cruz as measured by the CES and CPS surveys. To illustrate the trend, the 3 month moving average change in employment is shown in green.

CES Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

CPS Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

Total Employment for Santa Cruz, California

CES employment for Santa Cruz peaked in April 2019 at 107,200. Since then 21,400 jobs have been lost in Santa Cruz according to the employer survey.

CPS employment reached a maximum of 143,385 for Santa Cruz in February 2001. 33,877 jobs have been lost in Santa Cruz since then according to the household survey.

Employment: CES, CPS

Santa Cruz, California Employment History

Date	CES Employment	CES Month/Month	CPS Employment	CPS Month/Month
May 2020	85,800	-1,200	109,508	-3,678
April 2020	87,000	-17,400	113,186	-19,992
March 2020	104,400	-1,200	133,178	-3,012
February 2020	105,600	900	136,190	-97
January 2020	104,700	100	136,287	-544
December 2019	104,600	-700	136,831	222
November 2019	105,300	100	136,609	308
October 2019	105,200	600	136,301	396
September 2019	104,600	100	135,905	470
August 2019	104,500	1,000	135,435	461
July 2019	103,500	0	134,974	339
June 2019	103,500	200	134,635	157