Why is This Important?

The unemployment rate is a basic indicator of the economic health of a community. Unemployment rates fluctuate with economic cycles and vary across regions and communities.  Unemployed individuals are unable to earn enough money to meet financial obligations and lack employer-sponsored health insurance. They could be at risk of losing their home or being forced into substandard housing, and they have increased risk of social and health problems.

What is a Sustainable State?

In a sustainable state the unemployment rate is low, jobs are available to fit the skills and experience of workers in the community, and the unemployed have access to training and other resources to help them and employment.

How Are We Doing?

Unemployment Rate
· In 2010, the impact of the national recession was still evident in San Mateo County, with an average unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, an increase from 8.6 percent in 2009. Unemployment remains at its highest level in the county in over 20 years.

· Unemployment peaked in March of 2010 at 9.8 percent, and has decreased steadily since that time. As of December 2010 the unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent, reflecting a modest increase in the number of available jobs.

· The San Mateo County unemployment rate is still significantly lower than either the state or federal rates of 12.4 and 9.6 percent respectively.

· At the end of 2010, San Mateo County had the second lowest unemployment rate of all counties in the state. (Marin County had the lowest). Neighboring Santa Clara County had an unemployment rate of 10.4 percent at the end of 2010.

· The unemployment rate increased in almost every city in the county in 2010. Only Atherton, El Granada CDP, and Half Moon Bay had their unemployment rates go down. East Palo Alto had the highest unemployment rate at 20.8 percent, while the North Fair Oaks CDP (an unincorporated portion of the county adjacent to Redwood City and Menlo Park) had the second highest rate at 18.4 percent. Hillsborough continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in the county at 4.0 percent.

Unemployment Services
· Demand for unemployment services has mirrored increased unemployment. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, PeninsulaWorks—the primary workforce development and job assistance program in the county—serviced over 105,000 individual client visits, and increase of 20 percent from the prior year.