Department of Numbers

Odessa, Texas Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Odessa fell 0.6 percentage points in August 2021 to 8.8%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.9 percentage points higher than the Texas rate. The unemployment rate in Odessa peaked in May 2020 at 16.0% and is now 7.2 percentage points lower. You can also compare Odessa unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate August 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 5.2% -0.2 -3.2
Texas 5.9% -0.3 -1.0
Odessa 8.8% -0.6 -2.5
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with August 2021 data as September metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Odessa, Texas, National

Odessa, Texas monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Odessa, Texas Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Odessa peaked in May 2020 at 13,097. There are now 6,226 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Odessa employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Odessa, Texas) is also available.

Unemployed Persons August 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Odessa 6,871 -485 -2,318

Number of Unemployed Persons

Odessa, Texas Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Texas
Unemployment Rate		 Odessa
Unemployment Rate		 Odessa
Unemployed
September
2021		 4.8% — — —
August
2021		 5.2% 5.9% 8.8% 6,871
July
2021		 5.4% 6.2% 9.4% 7,356
June
2021		 5.9% 6.5% 9.8% 7,756
May
2021		 5.8% 6.6% 10.2% 8,012
April
2021		 6.1% 6.7% 11.4% 9,068
March
2021		 6.0% 6.9% 11.8% 9,452
February
2021		 6.2% 6.9% 12.1% 9,734
January
2021		 6.3% 6.8% 12.3% 9,932
December
2020		 6.7% 6.9% 12.6% 10,104
November
2020		 6.7% 7.2% 12.7% 10,201
October
2020		 6.9% 7.3% 12.7% 10,406

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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