Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Seattle fell 0.7 percentage points in July 2020 to 9.4%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.9 percentage points lower than the Washington rate. The unemployment rate in Seattle peaked in April 2020 at 17.3% and is now 7.9 percentage points lower. You can also compare Seattle unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	July 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	10.2%	-0.9	+6.5
Washington	10.3%	+0.3	+6.1
Seattle	9.4%	-0.7	+6.1

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with July 2020 data as August 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 April 2020 at 374,957. There are now 169,932 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Seattle employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Seattle, Washington) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	July 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
Seattle	205,025	-14,343	+133,931

Number of Unemployed Persons

Seattle, Washington Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Washington Unemployment Rate	Seattle Unemployment Rate	Seattle Unemployed
August 2020	8.4%	—	—	—
July 2020	10.2%	10.3%	9.4%	205,025
June 2020	11.1%	10.0%	10.1%	219,368
May 2020	13.3%	15.1%	15.7%	338,837
April 2020	14.7%	16.3%	17.3%	374,957
March 2020	4.4%	5.1%	5.7%	122,561
February 2020	3.5%	3.8%	3.1%	67,959
January 2020	3.6%	3.9%	3.1%	68,203
December 2019	3.5%	4.0%	3.1%	67,190
November 2019	3.5%	4.0%	3.1%	67,696
October 2019	3.6%	4.0%	3.1%	68,435
September 2019	3.5%	4.1%	3.2%	69,293