In April, 27 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates of at least 7.0 percent, up from 18 areas a year earlier, while 118 areas posted rates below 4.0 percent, down from 165 areas in April 2007. Two agricultural areas in California continued to register the highest rates in April: El Centro, 18.4 percent, and Merced, 12.3 percent. Logan, Utah-Idaho, had the lowest jobless rate, 2.2 percent. Overall, 207 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 4.8 percent, 152 areas had higher rates, and 10 areas had the same rate.
Two Florida areas, Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, registered the largest unemployment rate increases from a year earlier (+2.7 and +2.5 per- centage points, respectively), followed by Bend, Ore. (+2.2 points) and Ocala, Fla. (+2.1 points). Fifty-three additional areas recorded jobless rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more from April 2007. Racine, Wis., reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease in April (-1.4 percentage points). The areas with the next largest rate declines were Lawton, Okla. (-1.2 percentage points), Oklahoma City, Okla. (-1.1 points), and Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. (-1.0 point).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., reported the highest unemployment rates in April, 6.9 and 6.8 percent, respectively. The areas with the next highest rates were Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, 6.2 percent; Sacramento—Arden-Arcade--Roseville, Calif., 6.1 percent; and Providence-Fall River-Warwick, R.I.- Mass., 6.0 percent. The large areas with the lowest rates were Oklahoma City, Okla., 2.9 percent, and New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., 3.0 percent. Thirty-eight large areas recorded higher unemployment rates than in April 2007, eight posted lower rates, and three had no change. Among the large areas, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., registered the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+1.6 percentage points), followed by Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (+1.3 points). Seven additional large areas had rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more. Oklahoma City, Okla., and Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis., reported the largest unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier (-1.1 percentage points and -1.0 point, respectively).
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are composed of 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In April, the division with the highest unemployment rate again was Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., 7.9 percent. Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., recorded the next highest rates, 6.3 percent each. Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md., continued to report the lowest jobless rate among the divisions, 2.6 percent. Nine additional divisions registered rates below 4.0 percent.
In April, 21 of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases, 11 had rate decreases, and 2 had rates unchanged from those of a year earlier. The three divisions that compose the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla., metropolitan area reported the largest over-the-year rate increases: Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach (+1.2 percentage points each) and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach (+1.1 points). Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., also had a rate increase of 1.1 percentage points. No division registered a rate decrease greater than 0.4 percentage point.
In 5 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 April. The metropolitan area that had the largest rate difference among its divisions, 3.2 percentage points, was Boston-Cambridge- Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 6.3 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., 3.1 percent).
Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were available in April, 218 metropolitan areas recorded over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 87 reported decreases, and 5 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase was posted in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+71,100), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+66,800), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+57,600), and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+33,800). The largest over- the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Pascagoula, Miss. (+4.8 percent), Grand Junction, Colo. (+4.7 percent), Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (+4.6 percent), Odessa, Texas (+4.4 percent), and Kennewick- Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+4.3 percent).
The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-50,900), followed by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-17,900), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-17,500), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. (-15,200), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (-13,800), and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-12,600). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment was recorded in Flint, Mich. (-6.4 percent), followed by Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-5.3 percent), Naples-Marco Island, Fla. (-4.6 percent), and Saginaw- Saginaw Township North, Mich. (-3.8 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 28 of the 38 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2007. The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were reported in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.8 percent), Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+2.7 percent), Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas (+2.3 percent each), and Seattle- Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+2.0 percent). Among the large areas, the largest over-the-year percentage decrease was reported in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-2.6 percent), followed by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-1.4 percent), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (-1.1 percent), and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. (-0.6 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in April 2008 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-two of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year increases in employment, 9 reported losses, and 1 had no change. The largest over-the-year in- creases in nonfarm employment for the metropolitan divisions occurred in New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+48,000), Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+47,400), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+27,800), and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+27,600). The largest over-the-year declines in nonfarm employment were recorded in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-31,700), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-19,700), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-19,200).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (+2.3 percent each), Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, and Tacoma, Wash. (+2.2 percent each), and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+1.9 percent). The largest over-the-year percent-age declines in employment among metropolitan divisions were seen in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-4.0 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-1.6 percent), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-1.3 percent), and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla. (-1.0 percent).
