The unemployment rate in Humboldt County, the share of the labor force (people working or looking for work) who were unemployed, was 5.2% in September 2026, the same as in September 2025. 60,300 people were working or looking for work, 1,100 fewer than a year earlier. The September 2026 figures are preliminary; the state revises them the following month, and the comparisons here are redone with the revised figures.

Line chart of the monthly unemployment rate in Humboldt County over the past two years; months the state did not publish are gaps
Line chart of the monthly unemployment rate in Humboldt County over the past two years; months the state did not publish are gaps

In context

Of every September since 1990, this one included, 41% had a rate at or below this one. The change from a year earlier is not unusual by this test: it is within 2 standard deviations of the average year-over-year change in the previous 36 months. In September 2026 the state estimated California's rate at 5.1%. The national rate, 4.0%, comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' own household survey, so it is measured differently from the state's estimates.

Notes

  • The state did not publish figures for October 2025.

How we calculated this

  • Changes compare a period with the same period a year earlier.Show the formula

    change = value(this period) − value(same period last year); % change = change ÷ value(same period last year) × 100

  • Records and percentiles compare a value with every value for the same month or quarter, up to and including this one.Show the formula

    percentile = share of same-month (or same-quarter) values up to and including this one that are at or below it × 100

  • Unemployment changes are compared with the changes of the three years before.Show the formula

    z = (year-over-year change − mean of the year-over-year changes in the previous 36 months) ÷ their standard deviation, using only published months and only when at least 24 are available. Unusual when |z| > 2.

  • County figures are shown next to California and the United States for the same period.Show the formula

    the same measure for California and the United States in the same period; where a change is shown for them, the same change formula

  • Records and percentiles need at least 10 earlier same-season values.Show the formula

    History needed = 10

  • An unemployment change is called unusual when it is more than 2 standard deviations from the past three years of changes.Show the formula

    Unusual unemployment change = 2

  • Unusual is judged against the 36 months before.Show the formula

    Comparison window = 36

  • At least 24 of those months must be published for the comparison to be made.Show the formula

    Months needed = 24

Rates are not seasonally adjusted, so a month is best compared with the same month in other years.

Source: California EDD, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, data released 2026-10-16; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED, data released 2026-10-26.