Labor reported.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In February, 42 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates of at least 7.0 percent, up from 36 areas a year earlier, while 70 areas recorded rates below 4.0 percent, down from 95 areas in February 2007. Two agricultural areas in California registered the highest rates in February: El Centro, 15.9 percent, and Merced, 13.4 percent. Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La., and Logan, Utah-Idaho, posted the lowest jobless rates, 2.5 percent each. Overall, 186 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 5.2 percent, 169 areas had higher rates, and 14 areas had the same rate.
Bend, Ore., and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., registered the largest unemployment rate increases from a year earlier (+2.6 percentage points each), followed by Punta Gorda, Fla. (+2.5 points). Forty-three additional areas recorded jobless rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more from February 2007. Two Oklahoma areas-Lawton and Oklahoma City-reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate decreases in February (-1.3 and -1.2 percentage points, respectively), followed by Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (-1.1 points).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., continued to record the highest unemployment rate, 7.7 percent, in February. The areas posting the next highest rates were Providence-Fall River-Warwick, R.I.-Mass., 6.8 percent, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 6.6 percent. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., reported the lowest jobless rate among the large areas, 3.1 percent. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., had the next lowest jobless rate, 3.3 percent. Thirty-five large areas recorded higher unemployment rates than in February 2007, 11 posted lower rates, and 3 had no change. Among the large areas, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., had the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+1.2 percentage points), followed by Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (+1.1 points each). Oklahoma City, Okla., registered the largest unemployment rate decrease from a year earlier (-1.2 percentage points). No other large area had a rate decrease greater than 0.3 percentage point.
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 February, the division with the highest unemployment rate again was Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., 8.5 percent. The divisions reporting the next highest rates were Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.4 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., 7.1 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md., reported the lowest February jobless rate among the divisions, 2.8 percent. Four additional divisions registered rates below 4.0 percent.
In February, 20 of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases, 13 had rate decreases, and 1 had a
rate unchanged from a year earlier. The division with the largest jobless rate increase was West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach,Fla. (+1.1 percentage points). No division registered a jobless rate decline from February 2007 greater than 0.4 percentage point.
In 6 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges between the highest and lowest division jobless rates were 1.0 percent-
age point or more in February. The metropolitan area that had the largest rate difference among its divisions, 3.5 percentage points, was
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H.,7.4 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., 3.9 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In February, 240 metropolitan areas recorded over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 66 reported decreases, and 4 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase was posted in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+86,000), followed by New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+74,400), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+70,900), and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+39,600). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+6.4 percent each), Grand Junction, Colo., and Odessa, Texas (+4.8 percent each), Florence, S.C. (+4.7 percent), Pascagoula, Miss. (+4.2 percent), and Auburn-Opelika, Ala. (+4.1 percent).
The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-42,000), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-36,900), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-14,300), Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Fla. (-13,400), Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-12,400), and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. (-10,800). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment were recorded in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-5.2 percent), followed by Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Va. (-4.9 percent), Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Fla. (-4.4 percent), Naples-Marco Island, Fla. (-4.3 percent), Flint, Mich. (-3.3 percent), and Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich. (-3.0 percent).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment increased in 31 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 (+3.4 percent), Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+3.2 percent), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.5 percent), San Antonio, Texas, and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+2.3 percent each), and Denver-Aurora, Colo. (+2.0 percent). Among the largest areas, the largest over-the-year percentage decreases were reported in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-2.2 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-1.1 percent), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-0.7 percent), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (-0.6 percent), and Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. (-0.4 percent each).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in February 2008 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-four of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year increases in employment, 7 reported losses, and 1 had no change. The largest over-the-year increases in nonfarm employment for the metropolitan divisions occurred in New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+56,400), Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+51,200), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+31,100), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+26,800), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (+23,100), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (+22,900). The largest over-the-year declines in nonfarm employment were recorded in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-27,000), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-21,800), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-15,100), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-15,000), and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. (-7,800).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Tacoma, Wash. (+3.1 percent), Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.5 percent), Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.3 percent), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.2 percent), and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (+2.0 percent). The largest over-the-year employment declines among metropolitan divisions were seen in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-3.4 percent), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-1.4 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-1.3 percent), and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. (-1.0 percent).
