In April, 128 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 91 areas a year earlier, while 67 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 113 areas in April 2009. El Centro, Calif., again recorded the highest unemployment rate, 27.9 percent. Yuma, Ariz., followed with a rate of 24.4 percent. Among the 14 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 11 were located in California. Bismarck, N.D., and Fargo, N.D.-Minn., registered the lowest unemployment rates in April, 3.6 and 3.9 percent, respectively. Overall, 143 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.5 percent, 224 areas reported rates below it, and 5 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., registered the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase in April (+3.7 percentage points), followed closely by Farmington, N.M. (+3.6 points). Three other areas had rate increases of more than 3.0 percentage points: Yuba City, Calif. (+3.4 points),
Rockford, Ill. (+3.3 points), and Yuma, Ariz. (+3.1 points). The largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease in April was posted by Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-4.8 percentage points). Eleven other areas reported rate decreases of at least 1.0 percentage point, though none were greater than 1.9 points.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., sustained the highest unemployment rate in April, 14.8 percent. The next highest rates were recorded in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.2 percent each. Fifteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in April were Oklahoma City, Okla., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 5.9 percent each, and New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., 6.1 percent. Forty-three of the large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases, the largest of which occurred in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (+3.7 percentage points). The next largest rate increase was recorded in Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, Calif. (+2.2 percentage points). Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis., was the only large area to post an over-the-year jobless rate decrease of greater than 0.4 percentage point (-1.1 points).
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are composed of 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In April, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 15.7 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 14.2 percent. Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.3 percent, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.0 percent. These two divisions make up the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., metropolitan area.
In April, 32 of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases. Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis., and Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Mass., experienced the largest rate increases (+2.2 and +2.1 percentage points, respectively). No division reported a rate decrease of more than 0.1 percentage point.
In 4 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 April. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.3 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.8 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 6.5 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In April, 300 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment, 64 reported increases, and 8 were unchanged. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-111,200), followed by Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-101,400), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-91,200), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-67,000), and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (-66,300). The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment were reported in Monroe, Mich. (-5.6 percent), Farmington, N.M. (-5.3 percent), Sumter, S.C. (-5.2 percent), Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Wash., and Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-W.Va. (-5.1 percent each), and Grand Junction, Colo. (-5.0 percent).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+5,800), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3,900), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+3,000), Ocean City, N.J. (+2,900), and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (+2,800). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Ocean City, N.J. (+7.9 percent), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+4.1 percent), Jacksonville, N.C. (+4.0 percent), Manhattan, Kan. (+3.9 percent), and St. Joseph, Mo.-Kan. (+3.8 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment decreased in 34 of the 36 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2009. The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment in these large metropolitan areas was posted in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-4.6 percent), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-3.8 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-3.5 percent), San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (-3.4 percent), and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif. (-3.1 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage increase in these large metropolitan
areas was posted in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+0.2 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in April 2010 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-eight metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment losses and 4 reported over-the-year employment gains. The largest over-the-year employment decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (-84,500), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-82,800), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-48,300), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-39,100).
The largest over-the-year employment increases in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (+8,100) and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+5,600).
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-3.9 percent), followed by Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-3.7 percent), Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis., and Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-3.5 percent each), and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (-3.4 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (+0.7 percent), followed by Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, Mass.-N.H. (+0.4 percent), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+0.2 percent).
