Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In September, 117 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 10 areas a year earlier, while 70 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 291 areas in September 2008. El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., recorded the highest unemployment rates, 30.1 and 24.2 percent, respectively. These two adjacent areas are highly agricultural and experience extreme heat during summer months. Among the 13 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 5 were located in California and 3 were in Michigan. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate in September, 2.9 percent, followed by Fargo, N.D.-Minn., 3.7 percent, and Grand Forks, N.D.- Minn., 3.8 percent. Overall, 133 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.5 percent, 232 areas reported rates below it, and 7 areas had the same rate.
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., recorded the largest jobless rate increase from September 2008 (+8.4 percentage points), followed by Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich. (+6.8 points). An additional 5 areas registered unemployment rate increases of 6.0 percentage points or more, and another 34 areas had increases of 5.0 to 5.9 points. Three areas reported rate increases of less than a full percentage point: Manhattan, Kan. (+0.4 point), Bismarck, N.D. (+0.5 point), and Grand Forks, N.D.-Minn. (+0.6 point). Only one area experienced an over- the-year jobless rate decrease, Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La. (-1.4 percentage points), which had been impacted by Hurricane Gustav in September 2008.
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 September, 17.3 percent. The large areas with the next highest rates were Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.2 percent, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 13.9 percent. Sixteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in September were Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.9 percent; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.- Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.2 percent; and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C., 6.7 percent. All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at least 1.6 percentage points. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+8.4 percentage points). The next largest rate increase occurred in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (+6.2 percentage points). Five other large areas recorded over-the-year 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 September, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 18.3 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 16.6 percent. The division with the next highest rate was Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 14.1 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.5 percent, followed by Washington Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.- Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.4 percent.
In September, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases of at least 2.1 percentage points. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., experienced the largest rate increases (+8.5 and +8.0 percentage points, respectively). Two additional divisions reported over- the-year rate increases of 5.0 percentage points or more.
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 September. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.6 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.- N.H., 14.1 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 7.5 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In September, 359 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment and 10 reported increases. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-220,000), followed by New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-216,400), and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-207,800). The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment were reported in Kokomo, Ind. (-8.5 percent), Dalton, Ga. (-8.4 percent), and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., Holland-Grand Haven, Mich., and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-8.0 percent each).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+3,100), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+2,900), and Sandusky, Ohio (+1,300). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Sandusky, Ohio (+3.3 percent), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3.0 percent), Hot Springs, Ark. (+1.6 percent), and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+1.4 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. (-8.0 percent), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-7.8 percent), and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-6.2 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in September 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. (-188,200), followed
by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-164,200), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-145,900), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-106,500). Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., was the only metropolitan division where employment increased over the year (+5,700, or 1 percent).
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-9.4 percent), followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-5.5 percent), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (-5.2 percent), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-4.9 percent), and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (-4.8 percent).
