S.F. jobless rate hits 4% amid layoffs, a two-year high

San Francisco’s unemployment rate jumped almost half a percentage point in January from the previous month, to 4% amid heavy tech layoffs, according to state data released Friday.

It’s the highest level since October 2021, when it was also 4% and the Bay Area was recovering from the worst of the pandemic. San Francisco’s unemployment rate was a revised 3.6% in December 2023 and 2.8% in January 2023. The rates are not seasonally adjusted.

San Francisco and San Mateo County, which make up a single metro division, saw a loss of 15,700 jobs in January. The hardest-hit sector was professional, scientific and technical services, which lost 4,000 jobs. Hotels and food services lost 1,600 jobs, underscoring continued weakness in the tourism sector. Retail saw a loss of 1,300 jobs as downtown store closures continued.

Between January 2023 and 2024, the tech-heavy information sector has lost 15,300 jobs across the two counties.

Numerous tech companies have cut jobs this year. Google, Salesforce, eBay, Cisco and Grammarly have all had layoffs in San Francisco since January, according to state filings.

San Francisco now has a slightly higher unemployment rate than the nation. U.S. companies added a robust 275,000 nonfarm jobs in February, but the national unemployment rose from 3.7% to 3.9%.

California’s unemployment rate rose slightly from a seasonally adjusted 5.1% to 5.2% in January compared to the prior month.

Unemployment has risen across the Bay Area in the past year: Alameda County’s rate was 5% in January; Contra Costa County was at 5%; Napa was at 4.6%; Sonoma at 4.5%; Santa Clara was at 4.3%; Marin was at 4.1%; and San Mateo was at 3.7%, the lowest level in the state.