Department of Numbers

Olympia-Tumwater, Washington Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Olympia rose 0.5 percentage points in November 2020 to 6.6%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than the Washington rate. The unemployment rate in Olympia peaked in April 2020 at 16.1% and is now 9.5 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 6.1% in October 2020, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.5 percentage points. You can also compare Olympia unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.7% -0.2 +3.1
Washington 6.0% 0.0 +2.0
Olympia 6.6% +0.5 +2.1
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2020 data as December metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Olympia, Washington, National

Olympia, Washington monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Olympia, Washington Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Olympia peaked in April 2020 at 23,986. There are now 14,806 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Olympia employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Olympia, Washington) is also available.

Unemployed Persons November 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Olympia 9,180 -33 +2,631

Number of Unemployed Persons

Olympia, Washington Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Washington
Unemployment Rate		 Olympia
Unemployment Rate		 Olympia
Unemployed
December
2020		 6.7% — — —
November
2020		 6.7% 6.0% 6.6% 9,180
October
2020		 6.9% 6.0% 6.1% 9,213
September
2020		 7.8% 8.3% 8.5% 12,221
August
2020		 8.4% 8.4% 8.4% 12,255
July
2020		 10.2% 10.2% 10.6% 15,716
June
2020		 11.1% 10.0% 9.0% 13,087
May
2020		 13.3% 15.1% 14.6% 21,407
April
2020		 14.8% 16.3% 16.1% 23,986
March
2020		 4.4% 5.1% 4.4% 6,285
February
2020		 3.5% 3.8% 4.4% 6,346
January
2020		 3.5% 3.9% 4.5% 6,509

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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