Department of Numbers

Salem, Oregon Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Salem fell 0.3 percentage points in July 2021 to 5.2%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.0 percentage points lower than the Oregon rate. The unemployment rate in Salem peaked in April 2020 at 11.6% and is now 6.4 percentage points lower. You can also compare Salem unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate July 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 5.4% -0.5 -4.8
Oregon 5.2% -0.4 -4.4
Salem 5.2% -0.3 -2.9
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: Salem, Oregon, National

Salem, Oregon monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Salem, Oregon Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Salem peaked in April 2020 at 22,874. There are now 11,958 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Salem employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Salem, Oregon) is also available.

Unemployed Persons July 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Salem 10,916 -682 -4,982

Number of Unemployed Persons

Salem, Oregon Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Oregon
Unemployment Rate		 Salem
Unemployment Rate		 Salem
Unemployed
August
2021		 5.2% — — —
July
2021		 5.4% 5.2% 5.2% 10,916
June
2021		 5.9% 5.6% 5.5% 11,598
May
2021		 5.8% 5.8% 5.8% 12,087
April
2021		 6.1% 5.9% 5.8% 12,244
March
2021		 6.0% 6.0% 5.8% 12,163
February
2021		 6.2% 6.1% 5.8% 11,969
January
2021		 6.3% 6.2% 5.6% 11,557
December
2020		 6.7% 6.3% 5.7% 11,750
November
2020		 6.7% 6.6% 5.9% 12,216
October
2020		 6.9% 7.0% 6.2% 12,806
September
2020		 7.8% 7.5% 7.0% 14,512

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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