In June, 121 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, down from 131 areas a year earlier, while 58 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, up from 49 areas in June 2010. El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., recorded the highest unemployment rates in June 2011, 28.5 and 26.9 percent, respectively. All of the remaining 10 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent were located in California. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate, 3.6 percent. The areas with the next lowest rates were Lincoln, Neb., and Fargo, N.D.-Minn., 4.1 and 4.2 percent, respectively. Of the nine areas with jobless rates of less than 5.0 percent, seven were located in the West North Central census division. A total of 214 areas recorded June unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 9.3 percent, 156 areas reported rates above it, and 2 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
The largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease in June was registered in Rockford, Ill. (-3.0 percentage points). An additional 19 areas recorded jobless rate decreases of at least 2.0 percentage points. Pascagoula, Miss., reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+2.0 percentage points), followed by Mobile, Ala. (+1.8 points). Twelve additional areas had increases of at least a full percentage point from a year earlier.
In the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, the highest unemployment rates in June were registered in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.2 percent, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 13.8 percent. Fifteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The lowest jobless rate among the large areas was recorded in Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.7 percent, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.2 percent. Thirty-nine of the large areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate decreases, while 10 areas registered rate increases. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., experienced the largest unemployment rate decrease from June 2010 (-1.5 percentage points). Six other large areas reported rate decreases of at least 1.0 percentage point. The large area with the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase was Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. (+0.9 percentage point).
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In June 2011, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., registered the highest jobless rates among the divisions, 13.9 and 13.7 percent, respectively. Nashua, N.H.-Mass., reported the lowest division rate, 5.4 percent, followed by Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., 5.8 percent.
Twenty-five of the metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate decreases in June, seven registered increases, and two had no change. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., posted the largest rate decline from a year earlier (-1.5 percentage points), closely followed by Gary, Ind., and Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. (-1.4 points each). Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., experienced the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase among divisions (+1.2 percentage points).
In 6 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., recorded the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.3 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 11.7 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 5.4 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In June, 217 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 143 reported decreases, and 12 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase occurred in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+62,800), followed by Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (+54,900), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+50,900), and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+28,700). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported in Manhattan, Kan. (+9.1 percent), followed by Sandusky, Ohio (+9.0 percent), Anderson, S.C. (+5.4 percent), and Elizabethtown, Ky., and Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-W.Va. (+4.7 percent each).
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.(-24,300), Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. (-13,300), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-11,400), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-11,300). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Joplin, Mo. (-13.5 percent), Pascagoula, Miss. (-6.4 percent), Pine Bluff, Ark. (-4.5 percent), and Abilene, Texas (-3.7 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 24 of the 36 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2010. The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. (+2.7 percent), Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.2 percent each), and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.0 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-1.1 percent), Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-1.0 percent each), and Baltimore-Towson, Md. (-0.8 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in June 2011 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains, while 12 reported losses. The largest over-the-year increase in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+48,700), followed by Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. (+35,400), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+29,600), Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (+21,600), and New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.(+21,500). The largest over-the-year decreases in the metropolitan divisions were in Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. (-16,100), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-15,700), and Gary, Ind., and Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (-6,800 each).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Mass. (+5.3 percent), Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, Mass.-N.H. (+3.2 percent), Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.4 percent), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass., and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.1 percent each). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were in Gary, Ind. (-2.6 percent), Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. (-1.7 percent), Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. (-1.6 percent), and Camden, N.J. (-1.2 percent).
