In July, 90 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 7.0 percent, up from 29 areas a year earlier, while 40 areas posted rates below 4.0 percent, down from 91 areas in July 2007. El Centro, Calif., and neighboring Yuma, Ariz., continued to record the highest unemployment rates, 23.3 and 20.0 percent, respectively. Sioux Falls, S.D., again registered the lowest jobless rate, 2.4 percent. Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Rapid City, S.D., reported the next lowest rates, 2.5 percent each. Overall, 153 areas posted unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 6.0 percent, 205 areas had rates below it, and 11 areas had the same rate.
Two Indiana areas - Elkhart-Goshen and Kokomo -recorded the largest jobless rate increases from July 2007 (+4.8 and +4.4 percentage points, respectively). Both areas experienced layoffs in transpor- tation equipment manufacturing. Forty-nine additional areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 2.0 percentage points or more, and another 177 areas had rate increases of 1.0 to 1.9 percentage points. Jonesboro, Ark., experienced the largest jobless rate decrease from a year earlier (-1.7 percentage points). Three more areas, all in Arkansas, logged rate decreases of 1.0 percentage point or more: Hot Springs and Pine Bluff (-1.4 points each) and Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway (-1.0 point).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., continued to report the highest unemployment rate, 9.4 percent in July 2008, followed again by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., at 8.9 percent. Seven m ore large areas posted rates of 7.0 percent or more. The large area with the lowest jobless rate was Oklahoma City, Okla., at 4.0 percent. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., and Washington- Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., had the next lowest rates, 4.1 percent each. Forty-seven large areas had higher unemployment rates than in July 2007, and two had lower rates. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., experienced the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+2.4 percentage points), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif., and Providence-Fall River-Warwick, R.I.-Mass. (+2.2 points each). Six additional large areas recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 2.0 percentage points or more, and 24 large areas had rate increases from 1.0 to 1.9 percentage points. No large area had a rate decrease of more than 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier.
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 July, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area again registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 10.9 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 8.3 percent. Bethesda-Frederick- Gaithersburg, Md., continued to report the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 3.5 percent. Nashua, N.H.-Mass., again posted the next lowest rate, 3.8 percent.
In July, all 34 metropolitan divisions again recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., experienced the largest unemployment rate increase (+2.5 percentagepoints). Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill., and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla., registered the next largest rate increases (+2.1 and +2.0 percentage points, respectively). Fourteen other divisions reported over-the-year rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more.
In 7 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges between the highest and lowest division jobless rates were 1.0 percentage point or more in July. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.- N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 3.9 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.7 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 3.8 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were available in July, 188 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in employment, 110 reported decreases, and 12 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+68,000), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+57,100), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+38,900), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+35,400). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported in Grand Junction, Colo. (+4.9 percent), followed by McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+4.6 percent), Odessa, Texas, and Pascagoula, Miss. (+3.5 percent each), and College Station-Bryan, Texas; El Paso, Texas; and Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3.4 percent each).
The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-45,000), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-36,700), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-28,300), and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-26,000). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment was reported in Flint, Mich. (-5.9 percent), followed by Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-4.2 percent), Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-3.6 percent), and Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz. (-3.4 percent).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment rose in 22 of the 38 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2007. The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment in these large metropolitan areas was posted in Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C. (+3.0 percent), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.3 percent) and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+2.2 percent each). Among these large areas, 16 reported a decrease in employment. The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment in these areas were posted by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-2.1 percent), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.9 percent), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-1.5 percent) and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (-1.3 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in July 2008 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Seventeen of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains while 14 reported losses and one had no change. The largest over-the-year increase in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano- Irving, Texas (+51,800), followed by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+33,100), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+31,900), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+31,300). The largest over-the-year decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-29,900), followed by Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-23,600), Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-19,600), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-15,100).
The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.5 percent), followed by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.(+2.3 percent), Tacoma, Wash. (+2.1 percent), and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+1.9 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-2.0 percent each), followed by Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-1.9 percent) and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-1.7 percent).
