Department of Numbers

Bismarck, North Dakota Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Bismarck fell 0.4 percentage points in December 2020 to 3.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.6 percentage points lower than the North Dakota rate. The unemployment rate in Bismarck peaked in April 2020 at 9.5% and is now 6.0 percentage points lower. You can also compare Bismarck unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate December 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.7% 0.0 +3.1
North Dakota 4.1% -0.4 +1.7
Bismarck 3.5% -0.4 +1.1
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with December 2020 data as January metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Bismarck, North Dakota, National

Bismarck, North Dakota monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Bismarck, North Dakota Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Bismarck peaked in April 2020 at 6,395. There are now 3,972 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Bismarck employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Bismarck, North Dakota) is also available.

Unemployed Persons December 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Bismarck 2,423 -258 +806

Number of Unemployed Persons

Bismarck, North Dakota Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 North Dakota
Unemployment Rate		 Bismarck
Unemployment Rate		 Bismarck
Unemployed
January
2021		 6.3% — — —
December
2020		 6.7% 4.1% 3.5% 2,423
November
2020		 6.7% 4.5% 3.9% 2,681
October
2020		 6.9% 4.7% 3.9% 2,698
September
2020		 7.8% 4.4% 3.7% 2,517
August
2020		 8.4% 5.0% 4.2% 2,851
July
2020		 10.2% 6.6% 5.4% 3,641
June
2020		 11.1% 7.4% 6.1% 4,127
May
2020		 13.3% 9.1% 8.3% 5,485
April
2020		 14.8% 9.1% 9.5% 6,395
March
2020		 4.4% 2.0% 2.3% 1,568
February
2020		 3.5% 2.2% 2.4% 1,614

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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