Mayor Lee vows to tackle income inequality as unemployment falls

While San Francisco’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.2 percent in September, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said today that he remains committed to “ensuring that our City’s rising prosperity benefits every single San Franciscan.”

According to preliminary unemployment numbers released by the California Employment Development Department (CEDD), the city’s unemployment rate dipped to 3.2 percent, while the statewide unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 percent.

This is the first time since 2007 that statewide unemployment has dropped below 6 percent, according to the CEDD.

The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged in September at 5.1 percent.

Lee said that when he took office as mayor in 2011, “unemployment hovered near double digits, our City faced a crisis of joblessness, a sea of red ink and deep cuts to vital services and public safety.”

He said today’s robust economy and near full-employment “means we have never been better positioned to tackle the challenges that remain before us of income inequality, a crisis in affordable housing and homelessness.”

Since September 2014, statewide professional and business services posted the largest gains, adding 130,200 jobs, up 5.3 percent, while construction posted the largest gains on a percentage basis, up 6.4 percent, adding 43,900 jobs statewide.

Lee said the city is continuing to invest “like never before in affordable housing, transportation, public education and public safety.”