SLO County unemployment rate dropped in May, still high

June 19, 2020

San Luis Obispo County’s unemployment rate dropped modestly in May, as small groups of people went back to work amid the pandemic, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.

While the number of unemployed continues to fall, the economic outlook remains dire, with unemployment numbers exceeding some past recessions. Meanwhile, the county continues to loosen restrictions on local businesses.

The county’s unemployment rate dropped to 12.7 percent in May, from a revised 14 percent in April. In May 2019, the jobless rate was 2.4 percent.

In San Luis Obispo County in May, 500 people went back to work in the food service portion of the hospitality industry, or an increase of 7.2 percent. At the same time, under the county’s temporary restriction on hotel occupancy rates, 100 people lost jobs at hotels in May, or 4.2 percent.

From May 2019 through May 2020, there was a loss of 9,500 jobs in the hospitality industry in SLO County.

San Luis Obispo County is ranked fifteenth out of 58 California counties for lower numbers of unemployed workers. SLO County’s unemployment rate is lower than the national average of 13 percent and the state’s 15.9 percent rate.

In California, Lassen County is ranked number one with an unemployment rate of 10 percent and Mono County comes in on the bottom with an unemployment rate of 28.9 percent. Lassen County was one of the first counties in California to reopen amid the pandemic.