In August, 129 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 11 areas a year earlier, while 69 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 282 areas in August 2008. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rate, 28.7 percent, followed by Yuma, Ariz., 26.1 percent. These two adjacent areas are highly agricultural and experience extreme heat during summer months. Among the 16 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 7 were located in California and 4 were in Michigan. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest jobless rate in August, 3.3 percent, followed by Fargo, N.D.-Minn., and Rapid City, S.D., 4.1 and 4.2 percent, respectively. Overall, 141 areas posted unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.6 percent, 227 areas reported rates below it, and 4 areas had the same rate.
For the eighth consecutive month, all 372 metropolitan areas had over-the-year unemployment rate increases. The largest jobless rate increase from August 2008 was reported in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (+7.9 percentage points), followed by Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich. (+7.0 points). An additional 7 areas registered unemployment rate increases of 6.0 percentage points or more, and another 36 areas had increases of 5.0 to 5.9 points. Only three areas had over-the-year rate increases of less than a full percentage point: Bismarck, N.D. (+0.4 point), Great Falls, Mont. (+0.8 point), and Fairbanks, Alaska (+0.9 point).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., reported the highest unemployment rate in August, 17.0 percent. The large areas with the next highest rates were Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.5 percent, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 13.4 percent. Sixteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in August were Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.0 percent, and Oklahoma City, Okla., 6.1 percent. All but 2 of the 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at least 2.0 percentage points. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+7.9 percentage points). The areas with the next largest rate increases were Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (+6.4 percentage points), Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash. (+5.7 points), and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+5.6 points). Two other large areas recorded rate increases of 5.0 percentage points or more.
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 August, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 18.2 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 16.2 percent. The division with the next highest rate was Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 13.9 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.3 percent, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.2 percent.
In August, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases of at least 1.9 percentage points. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., experienced the largest rate increases (+8.2 and +7.6 percentage points, respectively). Two additional divisions reported over-the-year rate increases of 5.0 percentage points or more.
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 August. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.6 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 13.9 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., 7.3 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In August, 356 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment, 11 reported increases, and 2 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-230,000), followed by Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-216,200), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-160,900), and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-150,400). The largest over-the-year percentage loss in employment was reported in Flint, Mich. (-10.7 percent), followed by Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-10.6 percent), Holland-Grand Haven, Mich. (-8.7 percent), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-8.5 percent), and Reno Sparks, Nev., and Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, Wash. (-8.4 percent each).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+3,200), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+2,400), Sandusky, Ohio (+1,100), and Hot Springs, Ark. (+1,000). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Sandusky, Ohio (+2.7 percent), Hot Springs, Ark. (+2.6 percent), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+2.5 percent), Jonesboro, Ark. (+1.9 percent), and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+1.5 percent).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment declined in all 38 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2008. The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-8.5 percent), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-7.9 percent), Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-6.7 percent), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-6.2 percent), and Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-6.0 percent each).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in August 2009 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. All of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment losses. The largest over-the-year decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-192,400), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-166,200), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-112,000), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-88,700), and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (-69,800).
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-9.8 percent), followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-6.5 percent), and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill., San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif., and Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. (-5.0 percent each).
