Demographic D.6 Unemployment rate
Data Source
U.S. Census 2000, Geolytics software. Census variables used: ‘Proportion of persons 16+ years old who are in the civilian labor force and unemployed' (UNEMPRT0). Summary File 3, Table P43.Map and table created by San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using ArcGIS software.
Map data is presented at the level of the census tract. The map also includes planning neighborhood names, in the vicinity of their corresponding census tracts.
Table data is presented by planning neighborhood. Planning neighborhoods are larger geographic areas then census tracts. SF DPH used ArcGIS software and a 'centroids within' methodology to convert census tracts to geographic mean center points. We then assigned census tracts to planning neighborhoods based on the spatial location of those geographic mean center points and calculated the planning neighborhood totals for the table.
Detailed information regarding census data, geographic units of analysis, their definitions, and their boundaries can be found in the HDMT at the following links:
http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/Geographic_Units_of_Analysis.September_2009.pdf
http://www.thehdmt.org/data_map_methods.php
Explanation and Limitations
According to the U.S. Census (2000), civilians 16 years old and over are classified as unemployed if they (1) were neither "at work" nor "with a job but not at work" during the reference week, (2) were looking for work during the last four weeks, and (3) were available to start a job. Also included as unemployed are civilians 16 years old and over who did not work at all during the reference week, were on temporary layoff from a job, expected to be recalled to work within the next 6 months, or had been given a date to return to work, and were available for work during the reference week.
The equation used to calculate the unemployment rate is therefore: (persons 16+ years old in the civilian labor force and unemployed) / (persons 16+ years old in the civilian labor force).
Given the current economic crisis throughout the country, unemployment rates from 2000 are a substantial underestimate of today's unemployment levels. Unfortunately more recent statistics on neighborhood level unemployment are currently unavailable. Preliminary CA Employment Development Department (EDD) labor force counts for July 2009 put San Francisco's unemployment rate at 9.9%, a 25 year high for San Francisco. The state unemployment rate was listed as 12.1% (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov).