Department of Numbers

Bellingham, Washington Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Bellingham fell 0.0 percentage points in August 2021 to 5.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage points higher than the Washington rate. The unemployment rate in Bellingham peaked in April 2020 at 18.4% and is now 12.9 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 5.5% in July 2021, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.0 percentage points. You can also compare Bellingham unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate August 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 5.2% -0.2 -3.2
Washington 5.1% 0.0 -4.0
Bellingham 5.5% 0.0 -4.7
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: Bellingham, Washington, National

Bellingham, Washington monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Bellingham, Washington Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Bellingham peaked in April 2020 at 22,111. There are now 15,896 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Bellingham employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Bellingham, Washington) is also available.

Unemployed Persons August 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Bellingham 6,215 -68 -5,203

Number of Unemployed Persons

Bellingham, Washington Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Washington
Unemployment Rate		 Bellingham
Unemployment Rate		 Bellingham
Unemployed
September
2021		 4.8% — — —
August
2021		 5.2% 5.1% 5.5% 6,215
July
2021		 5.4% 5.1% 5.5% 6,283
June
2021		 5.9% 5.2% 5.8% 6,506
May
2021		 5.8% 5.2% 6.1% 6,766
April
2021		 6.1% 5.4% 6.4% 7,044
March
2021		 6.0% 5.5% 6.7% 7,421
February
2021		 6.2% 5.6% 7.3% 8,063
January
2021		 6.3% 6.0% 8.3% 9,188
December
2020		 6.7% 6.3% 6.6% 7,188
November
2020		 6.7% 6.7% 7.1% 7,800
October
2020		 6.9% 7.0% 7.3% 8,624

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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