Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California Unemployment
The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Los Angeles rose 1.1 percentage points in January 2021 to 11.0%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.0 percentage points higher than the California rate. The unemployment rate in Los Angeles peaked in May 2020 at 19.3% and is now 8.3 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 9.6% in November 2020, the unemployment rate has now grown by 1.4 percentage points. You can also compare Los Angeles unemployment with unemployment in other cities.
| Unemployment Rate | January 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 6.3% | -0.4 | +2.8 |
| California | 9.0% | -0.3 | +4.8 |
| Los Angeles | 11.0% | +1.1 | +7.1 |
Unemployment Rate: Los Angeles, California, National
Note: Recessions shown in gray.
Los Angeles, California Unemployed
The number of people unemployed in Los Angeles peaked in May 2020 at 1,204,361. There are now 500,253 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 627,447 in November 2020, the number of unemployed has now grown by 76,661. Los Angeles employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Los Angeles, California) is also available.
| Unemployed Persons | January 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 704,108 | +66,564 | +439,977 |
Number of Unemployed Persons
Los Angeles, California Unemployment History
| Date | National Unemployment Rate |
California Unemployment Rate |
Los Angeles Unemployment Rate |
Los Angeles Unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 |
6.0% | — | — | — |
| February 2021 |
6.2% | 8.5% | — | — |
| January 2021 |
6.3% | 9.0% | 11.0% | 704,108 |
| December 2020 |
6.7% | 9.3% | 9.9% | 637,544 |
| November 2020 |
6.7% | 8.7% | 9.6% | 627,447 |
| October 2020 |
6.9% | 9.8% | 10.6% | 704,333 |
| September 2020 |
7.8% | 10.6% | 13.6% | 880,135 |
| August 2020 |
8.4% | 12.3% | 14.4% | 930,419 |
| July 2020 |
10.2% | 13.2% | 16.2% | 1,051,465 |
| June 2020 |
11.1% | 14.1% | 17.7% | 1,150,792 |
| May 2020 |
13.3% | 15.6% | 19.3% | 1,204,361 |
| April 2020 |
14.8% | 16.0% | 19.0% | 1,197,357 |
1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩
Department of Numbers
The Department of Numbers contextualizes public data so that individuals can form independent opinions on everyday social and economic matters.
