SF unemployment rate grows as California faces highest unemployment in the nation

San Francisco lost thousands of jobs since the holiday season, a new report from the City of San Francisco revealed. 

San Francisco lost 21,000 jobs between December and February, and the unemployment rate edged up to 3.8% as a result. The state of California faces the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 5.3%. 

The city says most of the jobs losses were seasonal jobs that only exist during the holiday season. The report states that the decline in the tech industry is also partially to blame for the employment losses in the city. 

There was also some rough news for hotels in the city. The report states that hotel revenues in February fell to only 65% of normal. In comparison, other large metros including San Diego and Los Angeles saw growth between January and February 2024. New York City and Seattle have seen dips in hotel revenue, but no other metro faced one as large as San Francisco. 

Air travel in and out of San Francisco has stayed rather steady since February of 2023; it currently sits at 82% of 2019 levels. International travel is now above 2019 levels, the report says. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York all saw increases in international travel between December of last year and January of this year. 

Muni ridership has gone up slightly--in February it was at 64% of 2019 levels. As more people return to the office, several metros saw an uptick in in-person attendance including Austin, Los Angeles, San Jose and New York.