Unemployment in Santa Barbara County is continuing its declining trend from the last two years, falling to 2.4% in May, which is lower than the state’s and nation’s average, according
The May rate was down from the 2.8% adjusted rate in April, less than half the rate in May 2021, when it was 5.6%, and far below the nearly 11% rate in June 2020, according to state statistics reported by the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board.Among the county’s eight cities, Santa Maria had the highest rate at 3.7%, followed closely by Lompoc at 3.5%, according to the Workforce Development Board.
For comparison, Santa Maria’s labor force is an estimated 50,100 individuals, so 1,900 people are out of work there, while Buellton’s labor force is 3,200, and zero people are reportedly out of work in that city. All industries combined added 8,000 jobs countywide from May 2021 to May 2022 and 2,900 jobs since April.