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LA County Unemployment Rate Soars To Staggering 20.3%

By David Wagner
Published May 22, 2020 10:21 AM
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A staffer works to process claims at California's unemployment office, March 30, 2020. (California Employment Development Department)
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Unemployment in Los Angeles County rose to a staggering 20.3% in April, with coronavirus-related business closures putting roughly one in five L.A. workers out of a job.

These record-high numbers come from a grim unemployment report released Friday by California’s Employment Development Department.

L.A.’s unemployment rate is now the sixth highest among California’s 58 counties. Statewide unemployment is at 15.5%, setting a historical record and eclipsing California’s 12.3% peak during the Great Recession.

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