In December, 138 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 42 areas a year earlier, while 68 areas posted
rates below 7.0 percent, down from 205 areas in December 2008. El Centro, Calif., continued to record the highest unemployment rate, 27.7 percent. Merced, Calif., registered the next highest rate, 19.8 percent. Among the 19 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 12 were located in California and 3 were in Michigan. Fargo, N.D.-Minn., registered the lowest unemployment rate in December, 4.0 percent, closely followed by Grand Forks, N.D.-Minn., and Lincoln, Neb., 4.1 percent each. Overall, 146 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.7 percent, 221 areas reported rates below it, and 5 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
Weirton-Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio, recorded the largest jobless rate increase from December 2008 (+5.9 percentage points). The areas with the next largest rate increases were Farmington, N.M. (+5.4 percentage points); Decatur, Ill., and Palm Coast, Fla. (+5.1 points each); and Casper, Wyo., and Peoria, Ill. (+5.0 points each). One area, Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., posted an unemployment rate decrease over the year of 1.2 percentage points to 14.8 percent.
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 December, 14.9 percent. The large area with the next highest rate was Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.0 percent. Seventeen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in December were Oklahoma City, Okla., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.0 and 6.2 percent, respectively. All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 0.8 percentage point or more. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+4.4 percentage points), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (+4.3 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 December, 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, 14.3 percent. The division with the next highest
rate was Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 13.7 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., 6.4 percent. These two divisions make up the Wash-ington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., metropolitan area.
In December, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases of at least 1.2 percentage points. Warren-Troy-
Farmington Hills, Mich., and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., experienced the largest rate increases (+4.4 and +4.3 percentage points, respectively). Two other areas had rate increases of 4.0 percentage points or more: Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H. (+4.1 points), and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (+4.0 points).
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 December. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.7 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 13.7 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 7.0 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In December, 356 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment, 12 reported increases, and 1 remained unchanged. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-182,300), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-164,200), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-150,400), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-114,500), and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-105,300). The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment were reported in Grand Junction, Colo. (-7.7 percent), Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., and Ocean City, N.J. (-7.4 percent each), and Flint, Mich. (-7.0 percent).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3,700), Bloomington, Ind., and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+1,800 each), and St. Joseph, Mo.-
Kan. (+1,100). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+4.0 percent), Bloomington, Ind., and Sandusky, Ohio (+2.2 percent each), and St. Joseph, Mo.-Kan. (+1.9 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 Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-7.4 percent), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-6.2 percent), Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. (-5.7 percent), and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-5.0 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in December 2009 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Thirty-one of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment losses. The largest over-the-year employment decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.(-163,200), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.(-115,300), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-103,500), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-82,700). Bethesda-Frederick-
Rockville, Md., was the only metropolitan division with an employment increase over the year (+3,100), which was a 0.5 percent gain.
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-7.5 percent), followed by San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (-4.6 percent), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill., and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-4.3 percent each).
