Department of Numbers

Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Santa Cruz fell 1.1 percentage points in January 2021 to 6.7%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.3 percentage points lower than the California rate. The unemployment rate in Santa Cruz peaked in April 2020 at 16.4% and is now 9.7 percentage points lower. You can also compare Santa Cruz 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
Santa Cruz 6.7% -1.1 +2.2
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with January 2021 data as February metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Santa Cruz, California, National

Santa Cruz, California monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Santa Cruz, California Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Santa Cruz peaked in April 2020 at 22,179. There are now 13,473 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Santa Cruz employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Santa Cruz, California) is also available.

Unemployed Persons January 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Santa Cruz 8,706 -1,443 +2,328

Number of Unemployed Persons

Santa Cruz, California Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 California
Unemployment Rate		 Santa Cruz
Unemployment Rate		 Santa Cruz
Unemployed
March
2021		 6.0% — — —
February
2021		 6.2% 8.5% — —
January
2021		 6.3% 9.0% 6.7% 8,706
December
2020		 6.7% 9.3% 7.8% 10,149
November
2020		 6.7% 8.7% 7.2% 9,315
October
2020		 6.9% 9.8% 8.3% 10,786
September
2020		 7.8% 10.6% 9.6% 12,253
August
2020		 8.4% 12.3% 9.6% 12,197
July
2020		 10.2% 13.2% 12.2% 15,620
June
2020		 11.1% 14.1% 14.2% 18,255
May
2020		 13.3% 15.6% 15.5% 20,151
April
2020		 14.8% 16.0% 16.4% 22,179

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. ↩

Data on deptofnumbers.com is for informational purposes only. No warranty or guarantee of accuracy is offered or implied. Contact [email protected] (or @deptofnumbers on Twitter) if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. Privacy policy.