Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Seattle fell 0.0 percentage points in September 2019 to 3.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 1.1 percentage points lower than the Washington rate. The unemployment rate in Seattle peaked in January 2010 at 10.1% and is now 6.6 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 3.5% in August 2019, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.0 percentage points. You can also compare Seattle unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	September 2019	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.5%	-0.2	-0.2
Washington	4.6%	0.0	+0.2
Seattle	3.5%	0.0	-0.3

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with September 2019 data as October metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Seattle, Washington, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Seattle, Washington Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Seattle peaked in January 2010 at 190,571. There are now 114,248 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Seattle employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Seattle, Washington) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	September 2019	Month/Month	Year/Year
Seattle	76,323	-295	-3,859

Number of Unemployed Persons

Seattle, Washington Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Washington Unemployment Rate	Seattle Unemployment Rate	Seattle Unemployed
October 2019	3.6%	—	—	—
September 2019	3.5%	4.6%	3.5%	76,323
August 2019	3.7%	4.6%	3.5%	76,618
July 2019	3.7%	4.6%	3.6%	77,198
June 2019	3.7%	4.6%	3.7%	78,889
May 2019	3.6%	4.6%	3.8%	82,110
April 2019	3.6%	4.7%	3.9%	84,066
March 2019	3.8%	4.6%	3.9%	84,479
February 2019	3.8%	4.5%	3.9%	83,301
January 2019	4.0%	4.5%	3.9%	82,673
December 2018	3.9%	4.5%	3.8%	81,350
November 2018	3.7%	4.5%	3.8%	81,292