San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California Unemployment
The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for San Jose fell 0.0 percentage points in September 2023 to 3.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 1.2 percentage points lower than the California rate. The unemployment rate in San Jose peaked in April 2020 at 12.8% and is now 9.3 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 2.5% in June 2022, the unemployment rate has now grown by 1.0 percentage points. You can also compare San Jose unemployment with unemployment in other cities.
| Unemployment Rate | September 2023 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 3.8% | 0.0 | +0.3 |
| California | 4.7% | +0.1 | +0.7 |
| San Jose | 3.5% | 0.0 | +1.0 |
Unemployment Rate: San Jose, California, National
Note: Recessions shown in gray.
San Jose, California Unemployed
The number of people unemployed in San Jose peaked in April 2020 at 134,459. There are now 96,785 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 26,580 in July 2022, the number of unemployed has now grown by 11,094. San Jose employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in San Jose, California) is also available.
| Unemployed Persons | September 2023 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose | 37,674 | +140 | +10,216 |
Number of Unemployed Persons
San Jose, California Unemployment History
| Date | National Unemployment Rate |
California Unemployment Rate |
San Jose Unemployment Rate |
San Jose Unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2023 |
3.9% | 4.8% | — | — |
| September 2023 |
3.8% | 4.7% | 3.5% | 37,674 |
| August 2023 |
3.8% | 4.6% | 3.5% | 37,534 |
| July 2023 |
3.5% | 4.6% | 3.4% | 36,445 |
| June 2023 |
3.6% | 4.6% | 3.3% | 35,964 |
| May 2023 |
3.7% | 4.5% | 3.2% | 34,765 |
| April 2023 |
3.4% | 4.5% | 3.0% | 32,987 |
| March 2023 |
3.5% | 4.4% | 2.9% | 31,777 |
| February 2023 |
3.6% | 4.4% | 2.8% | 30,284 |
| January 2023 |
3.4% | 4.2% | 2.7% | 28,922 |
| December 2022 |
3.5% | 4.1% | 2.6% | 28,154 |
| November 2022 |
3.6% | 4.1% | 2.6% | 28,174 |
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.
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