In May, 81 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, down from 118 areas a year earlier, while 91 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, up from 65 areas in May 2010. Yuma, Ariz., and El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rates in May 2011, 27.9 and 27.7 percent, respectively. All of the remaining eight areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent were located in California. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate, 2.9 percent. The areas with the next lowest rates were Fargo, N.D.-Minn., and Lincoln, Neb., 3.5 and 3.7 percent, respectively. Of the 17 areas with jobless rates of less than 5.0 percent, about half were located in the West North Central census division. A total of 214 areas recorded May unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 8.7 percent, 149 areas reported rates above it, and 9 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
The largest over-the-year unemployment rate decreases in May were registered in Rockford, Ill. (-3.5 percentage points), Flint, Mich. (-3.4 points), Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-3.3 points), and Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich. (-3.1 points). An additional 27 areas recorded jobless rate decreases of at least 2.0 percentage points. Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas, reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+1.3 percentage points). Four additional areas had increases of at least a full percentage point from a year earlier.
In the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, the highest unemployment rates in May were registered in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 13.2 percent, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 12.4 percent. Eight additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The lowest jobless rate among the large areas was recorded in Oklahoma City, Okla., 4.9 percent, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 5.7 percent. Forty-one of the large areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate decreases, while five areas registered rate increases and three had no rate change. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., experienced the largest unemployment rate decrease from May 2010 (-2.5 percentage points), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. (-1.8 points each). The area with the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase was New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. (+0.9 percentage point).
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In May 2011, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., registered the highest jobless rate among the divisions, 13.7 percent, while Nashua, N.H.-Mass., reported the lowest division rate, 5.0 percent.
Thirty of the metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate decreases in May, two registered increases, and two had no change. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., posted the largest rate decline from a year earlier (-1.9 percentage points), closely followed by Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. (-1.8 points), Gary, Ind. (-1.7 points), and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-1.6 points). Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., experienced the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase among divisions (+1.6 percentage 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 May. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., recorded the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.4 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 11.4 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 5.0 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In May, 201 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 157 reported decreases, and 14 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase occurred in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+58,900), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+45,000), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.(+26,200), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (+21,500). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported in Sandusky, Ohio (+8.3 percent), followed by Elizabethtown, Ky. (+6.3 percent), Logan, Utah-Idaho (+5.2 percent), and Kankakee-Bradley, Ill. (+4.9 percent).
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-30,000), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-17,300), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-16,900), and
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. (-13,400). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Grand Junction, Colo. (-4.7 percent), Bloomington, Ind., and Missoula, Mont. (-4.6 percent each), and Ocean City, N.J., and Pascagoula, Miss. (-4.2 percent each).
Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 23 of the 36 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2010. The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. (+2.4 percent), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.1 percent), and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas, and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+1.8 percent each). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.(-1.6 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-1.5 percent), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-1.3 percent), and Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.(-1.0 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in May 2011 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Eighteen of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains, while 14 reported losses. The largest over-the-year increase in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+49,600), followed by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+26,900), Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (+19,100), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. (+13,800). The largest over-the-year decreases in the metropolitan divisions were in Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. (-10,700), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-10,600), and Camden, N.J. (-10,200).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.5 percent), Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Mass.(+2.2 percent), and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.0 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were in Camden, N.J., and Gary, Ind. (-2.0 percent each).
