San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California Unemployment
The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for San Francisco fell 0.8 percentage points in January 2021 to 6.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.5 percentage points lower than the California rate. The unemployment rate in San Francisco peaked in April 2020 at 13.3% and is now 6.8 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 6.2% in November 2020, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.3 percentage points. You can also compare San Francisco 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 |
| San Francisco | 6.5% | -0.8 | +4.0 |
Unemployment Rate: San Francisco, California, National
Note: Recessions shown in gray.
San Francisco, California Unemployed
The number of people unemployed in San Francisco peaked in April 2020 at 328,915. There are now 169,660 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 155,737 in November 2020, the number of unemployed has now grown by 3,518. San Francisco employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in San Francisco, California) is also available.
| Unemployed Persons | January 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 159,255 | -24,065 | +94,894 |
Number of Unemployed Persons
San Francisco, California Unemployment History
| Date | National Unemployment Rate |
California Unemployment Rate |
San Francisco Unemployment Rate |
San Francisco Unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 |
6.0% | — | — | — |
| February 2021 |
6.2% | 8.5% | — | — |
| January 2021 |
6.3% | 9.0% | 6.5% | 159,255 |
| December 2020 |
6.7% | 9.3% | 7.3% | 183,320 |
| November 2020 |
6.7% | 8.7% | 6.2% | 155,737 |
| October 2020 |
6.9% | 9.8% | 7.0% | 179,611 |
| September 2020 |
7.8% | 10.6% | 8.6% | 211,164 |
| August 2020 |
8.4% | 12.3% | 8.6% | 210,489 |
| July 2020 |
10.2% | 13.2% | 11.2% | 278,327 |
| June 2020 |
11.1% | 14.1% | 12.5% | 316,109 |
| May 2020 |
13.3% | 15.6% | 13.3% | 328,886 |
| April 2020 |
14.8% | 16.0% | 13.3% | 328,915 |
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.
