500metrics

Local Area Unemployment Statistics · Unemployment, employment and labor force, not seasonally adjusted · El Centro, CA

What is the unemployment rate in the El Centro, CA metro area?

The unemployment rate in the El Centro, CA metro area was 20.8% in the month ended , against 4.0% for the United States.

El Centro, CA, unemployment rate, each month

September 2016 to September 2026Not seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

El Centro, CA, unemployment rate, each month, one row for each measure
  • Unemployment rate20.8%12.1% to 29.1%
  • United States rate4.0%3.1% to 14.4%

El Centro, CA, people, each month

September 2016 to September 2026Not seasonally adjusted, as publishedEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

El Centro, CA, people, each month, one row for each measure
  • Unemployed, thousands15.87.9 to 21.2
  • Employed, thousands60.450.1 to 62.1
  • Labor force, thousands76.265.4 to 77.3

Each row is one measure of the El Centro, CA metro area over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Right now

The unemployment rate in the El Centro, CA metro area was 20.8% in September 2026, ranking 1st highest of 387 metro areas.

Over a year it is down 0.8 percentage points (ours). The rate for the United States was 4.0% in the same month. The source marks this value preliminary.

The unemployment rate in September 2026 was the lowest since July 2026.

See every measure with its value and rank

Highest and lowestOurs

Since January 1990 the highest unemployment rate in the El Centro, CA metro area was 40.5% in July 1992 and the lowest was 11.7% in March 2002.

See the highest and lowest value of every measure

PeopleOurs: change and rank

The labor force was 76.2 thousand in September 2026, down 1.4% over a year (ours), 274th highest of 387.

The number of unemployed people was 15.8 thousand in September 2026, down 5.0% over a year (ours), 75th highest of 387.

The number of employed people was 60.4 thousand in September 2026, down 0.4% over a year (ours), 310th highest of 387.

See the labor force, the unemployed and the employed

State

El Centro, CA lies in California.

Understanding the labor market of the El Centro, CA metro area

Where it stands today

The unemployment rate in the El Centro, CA metro area was 20.8% in September 2026.

What do the figures for the El Centro, CA metro area measure?

This page gathers the labor market figures of the El Centro, CA metro area that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes: the unemployment rate, how many people are unemployed, how many are employed and how many are in the labor force. A metro area is a city and the counties around it that are closely tied to it, for example by the trips people make to work.

Read more

The figures come from Local Area Unemployment Statistics, a model that BLS runs for each metro area every month. BLS publishes them not seasonally adjusted, so a month is set beside the same month a year before, not beside the month before it. The rate for the United States beside the area's is the household survey's, also not seasonally adjusted.

What 500metrics adds: each figure's rank among the metro areas, its change over a year, its highest and lowest value since our record begins, the last time it was higher and lower, and the last ten years of every figure as small charts.

The numbers behind the chart

What are the latest figures for the El Centro, CA metro area?5 measures, each in its own newest month
El Centro, CA: the newest month of each measure, its change over a year (ours), its rank among the metro areas, its highest and lowest value and the last months it was higher and lower (ours); the nation's rate is not ranked
MeasureMonthValueChange over a yearRankHighestLowestLast higherLast lower
Unemployment rate20.8%−0.8 pts1 of 38740.5% in Jul 199211.7% in Mar 2002
United States rate4.0%−0.3 ptsn/a14.4% in Apr 20203.1% in Apr 2023
Unemployed15.8 thousand−5.0%75 of 38725.8 thousand in Aug 20116.7 thousand in Mar 2002
Employed60.4 thousand−0.4%310 of 38762.1 thousand in Mar 202531.4 thousand in Aug 1990
Labor force76.2 thousand−1.4%274 of 38781.1 thousand in Aug 201045.2 thousand in Apr 1990

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The figures of a metro area are estimates from a model, not a count. BLS revises the latest months as more data arrive and revises the past years every March.
  • The figures are not seasonally adjusted, so they rise and fall with the seasons, and the highest and lowest values on record include those swings. A month with no value from BLS is a gap in the charts, not a zero.
  • A rank is among the metro areas of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the same month, highest value first, and a large area ranks high on a count of people. The metro areas of Puerto Rico are not included. Equal values share a rank.
  • A metro area can cross state lines. The states listed are those in BLS's name for the area, and the figures are for the whole area, not for the part inside one state.
  • The changes, the ranks, the highest and lowest values and the months a figure was last higher and lower are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Current Population Survey), labor market of the El Centro, CA metro area, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the unemployment rate in the El Centro, CA metro area?", https://500metrics.com/metro-areas/el-centro-ca.

Page updated