Department of Numbers

California-Lexington Park, Maryland Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for California fell 0.7 percentage points in July 2021 to 3.8%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.2 percentage points lower than the Maryland rate. The unemployment rate in California peaked in February 2010 at 7.0% and is now 3.2 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 3.1% in October 2019, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.7 percentage points. You can also compare California unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate July 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 5.4% -0.5 -4.8
Maryland 6.0% -0.2 -2.7
California 3.8% -0.7 -1.8
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with July 2021 data as August metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: California, Maryland, National

California, Maryland monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

California, Maryland Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in California peaked in April 2020 at 3,776. There are now 1,642 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 2,103 in January 2021, the number of unemployed has now grown by 31.

Unemployed Persons July 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
California 2,134 -417 -1,043

Number of Unemployed Persons

California, Maryland Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Maryland
Unemployment Rate		 California
Unemployment Rate		 California
Unemployed
August
2021		 5.2% — — —
July
2021		 5.4% 6.0% 3.8% 2,134
June
2021		 5.9% 6.2% 4.5% 2,551
May
2021		 5.8% 6.1% 4.3% 2,458
April
2021		 6.1% 6.2% 4.2% 2,393
March
2021		 6.0% 6.2% 4.1% 2,288
February
2021		 6.2% 6.2% 3.9% 2,210
January
2021		 6.3% 6.4% 3.8% 2,103
December
2020		 6.7% 6.8% 4.4% 2,499
November
2020		 6.7% 6.8% 4.5% 2,552
October
2020		 6.9% 6.8% 4.6% 2,596
September
2020		 7.8% 7.0% 4.7% 2,586

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. ↩

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