In October, 124 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 13 areas a year earlier, while 75 areas posted
rates below 7.0 percent, down from 280 areas in October 2008. El Centro, Calif., and neighboring Yuma, Ariz., continued to record the highest unemployment rates, 30.0 and 23.5 percent, respectively. Among the 15 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 9 were located in California and 3 were in Michigan. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate in October, 2.8 percent, followed by Fargo, N.D.-Minn., and Grand Forks, N.D.-Minn., 3.5 percent each. Overall, 138 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.5 percent, 229 areas reported rates below it, and 5 areas had the same rate.
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., recorded the largest jobless rate increase from October 2008 (+7.3 percentage points), followed by Rockford, Ill. (+6.2 points). An additional 3 areas registered unemployment rate increases of 6.0 percentage points or more, and another 26 areas had increases of 5.0 to 5.9 points. While no metropolitan area posted an unemployment rate decrease, five areas reported rate increases of less than a full percentage point, the smallest of which was in Manhattan, Kan. (+0.5 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 October, 16.7 percent. The large areas with the next highest rates were Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.6 percent, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 13.0 percent. Fifteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in October were Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.2 percent, and Oklahoma City, Okla., and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C., 6.5 percent each. All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at least 1.5 percentage points. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+7.3 percentage points). The next largest rate increases occurred in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+5.2 percentage points each), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+5.1 points), and Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. (+5.0 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 October, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 17.7 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 16.0 percent. The division with the next highest rate was Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 13.2 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.6 percent, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.3 percent. These two divisions make up the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md. W.Va., metropolitan area.
In October, 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 (+7.5 and +7.0 percentage points, respectively). Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., was the only other division to report an over-the-year rate increase of 5.0 percentage points or more (+5.2 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 October. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.4 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 13.2 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., 6.8 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In October, 361 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment and 8 reported increases. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-218,200), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-203,000) and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.(-197,800). The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment were reported in Kokomo, Ind. (-8.3 percent), Dalton, Ga., and Monroe, Mich. (-8.1 percent each), and Holland-Grand Haven, Mich. (-7.8 percent).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+4,400), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3,400), and Ocean City, N.J. (+2,700). The largest over the year percentage increases in employment were reported in Ocean City, N.J. (+6.8 percent), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3.5 percent), and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+2.0 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 Phoenix-Mesa Scottsdale, Ariz. (-7.3 percent), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-7.2 percent), and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-6.7 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in October 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 decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-178,600), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-151,000), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-140,600), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-99,600). Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., was the only metropolitan division to increase over the year (+1,800), which was a 0.3 percent gain.
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills,Mich. (-8.8 percent), followed by San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (-4.9 percent), and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., and Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. (-4.8 percent each).
