Department of Numbers

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington Job Growth

There were 1,963,200 jobs in Seattle, Washington in November 2020 according to the CES survey of employers. The CPS survey of households showed 2,016,463 employed persons for the month. Seattle added 7,400 jobs in November 2020 according to the CES survey while the broader CPS measure of employment fell by 37,019 (Comparing CES and CPS employment numbers.). You can also compare Seattle job growth to job growth in other cities.

Employment Survey November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
CES 1,963,200 +7,400 -144,200
CPS 2,016,463 -37,019 -107,387

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

Seattle, Washington Employment Changes

The charts below show the monthly job growth for Seattle 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 Seattle, Washington

CES employment for Seattle peaked in January 2020 at 2,119,900. Since then 156,700 jobs have been lost in Seattle according to the employer survey. From a trough of 1,787,100 in April 2020, Seattle has gained 176,100 jobs according to CES employment figures.

CPS employment reached a maximum of 2,128,399 for Seattle in February 2020. 111,936 jobs have been lost in Seattle since then according to the household survey. From a April 2020 low of 1,794,914, Seattle has added 221,549 jobs according to the CPS survey.

Employment: CES, CPS

CES and CPS employment chart through November 2020

Seattle, Washington Employment History

Date CES
Employment		 CES
Month/Month		 CPS
Employment		 CPS
Month/Month
November 2020 1,963,200 7,400 2,016,463 -37,019
October 2020 1,955,800 -100 2,053,482 55,325
September 2020 1,955,900 9,500 1,998,157 -14,143
August 2020 1,946,400 18,700 2,012,300 27,852
July 2020 1,927,700 33,600 1,984,448 34,576
June 2020 1,894,100 54,400 1,949,872 125,371
May 2020 1,839,700 52,600 1,824,501 29,587
April 2020 1,787,100 -311,900 1,794,914 -233,595
March 2020 2,099,000 -17,200 2,028,509 -99,890
February 2020 2,116,200 -3,700 2,128,399 3,743
January 2020 2,119,900 5,800 2,124,656 -2,053
December 2019 2,114,100 6,700 2,126,709 2,859

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