Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement on San Francisco’s unemployment rate dropping below seven percent in September, based on preliminary unemployment numbers released by the State Employment Development Department (EDD):

“When I first came into office in January 2011, San Francisco’s unemployment rate was 9.6 percent; in September 2012, it was 6.9 percent, the lowest unemployment rate since 2008. While this marks a steady and consistent improvement in our economy, we will not rest for the San Franciscans who are out of work or struggling to make ends meet. I will continue to work with every business sector in the City to make sure we continue to create an atmosphere of investor confidence and continue to support policies that grow jobs and put San Franciscans back to work.”

According to EDD, San Francisco county’s unemployment rate this September was the lowest September jobless rate since 2008 and remains the third lowest in the State. Jobs located in San Francisco county increased by 4.1 percent on a year-over basis as of March 2012, ranking San Francisco as 17th in performance out of the 329 largest counties in the nation based on year-over job change.

For the San Francisco Metropolitan Area (San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties) the unemployment rate decrease between August 2012 and September 2012 was a larger decrease than the average decrease over the prior 10 years between August and September. According a recent Department of Labor report, the San Francisco Metropolitan Area had the strongest job growth in the nation for the 12 months ending in July 2012.