San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for San Jose fell 0.0 percentage points in May 2019 to 2.7%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 1.5 percentage points lower than the California rate. The unemployment rate in San Jose peaked in November 2009 at 11.4% and is now 8.7 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 2.6% in June 2018, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.1 percentage points. You can also compare San Jose unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	May 2019	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.6%	0.0	-0.2
California	4.2%	-0.1	0.0
San Jose	2.7%	0.0	0.0

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with May 2019 data as June metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

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 February 2010 at 103,482. There are now 74,288 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 27,922 in September 2018, the number of unemployed has now grown by 1,272. San Jose employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in San Jose, California) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	May 2019	Month/Month	Year/Year
San Jose	29,194	-549	+324

Number of Unemployed Persons

San Jose, California Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	California Unemployment Rate	San Jose Unemployment Rate	San Jose Unemployed
June 2019	3.7%	—	—	—
May 2019	3.6%	4.2%	2.7%	29,194
April 2019	3.6%	4.3%	2.7%	29,743
March 2019	3.8%	4.3%	2.7%	29,898
February 2019	3.8%	4.2%	2.7%	29,265
January 2019	4.0%	4.2%	2.7%	28,948
December 2018	3.9%	4.1%	2.6%	28,212
November 2018	3.7%	4.1%	2.6%	28,163
October 2018	3.8%	4.1%	2.6%	28,016
September 2018	3.7%	4.1%	2.6%	27,922
August 2018	3.8%	4.1%	2.6%	27,954
July 2018	3.9%	4.1%	2.6%	28,154