In December 109 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, down from 140 areas a year earlier, while 73 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, up slightly from 66 areas in December 2009. El Centro, Calif., again recorded the highest unemployment rate, 28.3 percent, followed by Yuma, Ariz., 23.2 percent. Among the 14 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 12 were located in California. Lincoln, Neb., registered the lowest unemployment rate, 3.5 percent in December. The areas with the next lowest rates were Bismarck, N.D., and Fargo, N.D.-Minn., 3.9 and 4.0 percent, respectively. Of the 14 areas with jobless rates under 5.0 percent,
9 were located in the West North Central census division. Overall 221 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 9.1 percent, 145 areas reported rates above it, and 6 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
The 10 largest over-the-year jobless rate decreases in December were reported in Michigan areas: Muskegon-Norton Shores (-4.8 percentage points), Monroe (-4.4 points), Jackson (-4.3 points), Flint (-4.2 points), Holland-Grand Haven (-3.9 points), Detroit-Warren-Livonia (-3.8 points), Saginaw-Saginaw Township North (-3.5 points), and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Lansing-East Lansing, and Niles-Benton Harbor (-3.4 points each). Twenty-four additional areas recorded rate decreases of at least 2.0 percentage points from a year earlier. Yuma, Ariz., registered the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase (+4.4 percentage points). No other area had an increase of 2.0 percentage points or more.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, the highest unemployment rates in December were registered in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 14.9 percent, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 13.9 percent. Twelve additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The lowest jobless rate among the large areas was recorded in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 5.7 percent. Thirty-three of the large areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate decreases, while 13 areas registered rate increases and 3 had no rate change. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., experienced the largest unemployment rate decrease from December 2009 (-3.8 percentage points), followed by Chicago-Joliet- Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-1.9 points). Nine other large areas reported rate decreases of at least 1.0 percentage point. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., and Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo., posted the largest jobless rate increases over the year (+1.9 and +1.2 percentage points, respectively).
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 December Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., registered the highest jobless rate among the divisions, 13.2 percent, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach- Glendale, Calif., 12.7 percent. Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., and Nashua, N.H.-Mass., reported the lowest unemployment rates among the divisions, 5.3 and 5.5 percent, respectively.
In December 29 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate decreases, 2 reported rate increases, and 3 had no changes. The two divisions that make up the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area posted the largest rate decreases from December 2009: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn (-3.8 percentage points) and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills (-3.7 points). Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., experienced the largest unemployment rate increase among divisions (+1.7 percentage points).
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 December. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., recorded the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.6 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.1 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 5.5 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In December 200 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 156 reported decreases, and 16 were unchanged. The largest over-the-year employment increase occurred in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+57,500), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+36,700), Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (+32,600), Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. (+28,800), and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. (+17,000). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment occurred in Ocean City, N.J. (+14.4 percent), followed by Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+4.9 percent), and Kokomo, Ind. (+4.5 percent).
The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-40,500), followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (-28,600), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-24,000), Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. (-18,100), and Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, Calif. (-17,700). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Bend, Ore. (-3.8 percent), Dalton, Ga. (-3.5 percent), and Yuba City, Calif. (-3.2 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 24 of the 36 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2009. The large area with the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment was Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas (+2.0 percent), followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+1.9 percent), and Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. (+1.7 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif. (-2.2 percent), Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. (-1.9 percent), and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-1.6 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in December for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Sixteen of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains while 16 reported losses. The largest over-the-year employment increases in the metropolitan divisions were registered in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+45,900), Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+28,400), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (+20,900). The largest over-the-year employment decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (-28,900), followed by Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-15,900), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-14,700), and Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. (-13,000).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were posted in Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md. (+2.1 percent), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+1.9 percent), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (+1.5 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. (-2.8 percent), followed by Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif., and Peabody, Mass. (-1.7 percent each).
