In June, 128 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, down from 145 areas a year earlier, while 60 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, up from 54 areas in June 2009. El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., again recorded the highest unemployment rates, 27.6 and 26.4 percent, respectively. Among the 12 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 10 were located in California. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate in June, 3.8 percent, followed by Fargo, N.D.-Minn., 4.1 percent. All six areas with jobless rates of less than 5.0 percent were located in the West North Central division. Overall, 218 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 9.6 percent, 147 areas reported rates above it, and 7 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
Two areas in Indiana posted the largest over-the-year jobless rate decreases: Kokomo (-7.2 percentage points) and Elkhart-Goshen (-4.2 points). Nine additional areas reported rate decreases of at least 2.0 percentage points. Yuma, Ariz., registered the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase in June (+2.9 percentage points). The areas with the next largest unemployment rate increases were Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., and Yuba City, Calif. (+2.1 percentage points each), and Reno-Sparks, Nev. (+2.0 points).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., registered the highest unemployment rate in June, 14.5 percent. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., followed closely with rates of 14.4 and 14.3 percent, respectively. Seventeen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., registered the lowest jobless rate among the large areas, 6.4 percent. Two other large areas had rates below 7.0 percent: Oklahoma City, Okla., 6.7 percent, and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis., 6.8 percent. Twentyfour of the large areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate increases, while 20 areas recorded rate decreases and 5 had no rate change. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., experienced the largest rate increase from June 2009 (+2.1 percentage points). The areas with the next largest rate increases were Pittsburgh, Pa., and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif. (+1.0 percentage point each). Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis., posted the largest jobless rate decreases over the year (-2.0 and -1.7 percentage points, respectively), and three other large areas registered rate decreases of 1.0 point or more.
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas comprise 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In June, the two divisions that compose the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 15.4 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 13.6 percent. Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.8 percent, closely followed by Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 5.9 percent.
In June, 16 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate decreases and 14 divisions reported rate increases. The divisions that experienced the largest rate decreases were Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-2.3 percentage points), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-1.8 points). Philadelphia, Pa., and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., experienced the largest rate increases (+1.2 and +1.1 percentage points, respectively).
In 5 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges between the highest and lowest division jobless rates were 2.0 percentage points or more in June. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.4 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.3 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 5.9 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In June, 226 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment, 135 reported increases, and 11 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-76,000), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-68,800), San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (-52,400), and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-42,600). The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment were reported in Lafayette, Ind. (-4.5 percent),Farmington, N.M. (-4.3 percent), Grand Junction, Colo. (-4.1 percent), and Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif. and Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-W.Va. (-3.9 percent each).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+27,300), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+15,000), Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas (+10,100), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass-N.H. (+9,400). The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment was registered in Kokomo, Ind. (+13.8 percent), followed by Manhattan, Kan. (+7.3 percent), Ocean City, N.J. (+6.3 percent), and Tuscaloosa, Ala. (+4.9 percent).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment decreased in 28 of the 36 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2009. The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-2.9 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-2.8 percent), San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (-2.7 percent), and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif. (-2.6 percent). The large area that reported the biggest over-the-year percentage increase in employment was Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas (+1.3 percent), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+1.0 percent), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+0.5 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in June 2010 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-four metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment losses while 8 reported gains. The largest over-the-year employment decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-65,600), followed by Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (-61,900), Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-29,300), and Edison-NeBrunswick, N.J. (-24,500). The largest over-the-year employment increases in the metropolitan divisions were registered in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+26,600), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.(+14,700), Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (+9,200), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (+5,500).
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. (-3.1 percent), followed by Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-3.0 percent), and Edison-New Brunswick, N.J., and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (-2.4 percent each). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were posted in Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Mass. (+2.3 percent), Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+1.3 percent), Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (+0.7 percent), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+0.6 percent).
