Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In February, 104 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 12 areas a year earlier, while 92 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 332 areas in February 2008. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rate, 24.5 percent. The areas with the next highest rates were Merced, Calif., 19.9 percent; Yuba City, Calif., 18.9 percent; and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., 18.0 percent. Among the 14 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 10 were located in California. Houma-Bayou Cane Thibodaux, La., registered the lowest jobless rate, 3.5 percent in February. Overall, 158 areas posted unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 8.9 percent, 206 areas reported rates below it, and 8 areas had the same rate.
Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., recorded the largest jobless rate increase from February 2008 (+12.5 percentage points). The next largest over- the-year rate increases were posted in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, N. (+9.3 percentage points) and Bend, Ore. (+8.0 points). An additional 24 areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 6.0 percentage points or more, and another 41 areas had rate increases of 5.0 to 5.9 points.
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 February 2009, 13.6 and 12.2 percent, respectively. Nine additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in February were New Orleans-Metairie Kenner, La., 5.3 percent, and Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.6 percent. All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at least 1.9 percentage points. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+6.5 percentage points), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (+6.1 points). Sixteen additional large areas recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 4.0 percentage points or more.
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 two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 14.6 percent, and Warren Troy- Farmington Hills, 12.9 percent. The divisions with the next highest
rates were Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.1 percent, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., 11.0 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.4 percent. Nashua, N.H.-Mass., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., posted the next lowest rates, 6.2 and 6.3 percent, respectively.
In February, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases of at least 2.3 percentage points. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., experienced the largest rate increases (+6.3 and +6.0 percentage points, respectively). Ten additional divisions reported over-the- year rate increases of 4.0 percentage points or more.
In 3 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 February. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 5.9 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.1 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 6.2 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were available in February 2009, 270 areas recorded over-the-year employment decreases, 37 reported gains, and 3 had no change. The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-202,300), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.- N.J.-Pa. (-193,000), Detroit-Warren Livonia, Mich. (-142,400), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-137,600), and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.- Ind.-Wis. (-137,100). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were recorded in Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-12.9 percent), Yuma, Ariz. (-10.9 percent), Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-9.2 percent), Dalton, Ga. (-7.9 percent), Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Fla. (-7.6 percent), and Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz. (-7.5 percent).
The largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (+3,600), followed by Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas (+2,500), Anchorage, Alaska (+2,400), Midland, Texas (+2,300), Odessa, Texas (+2,200), and Oklahoma City, Okla (+2,100). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Odessa, Texas (+3.5 percent), Midland, Texas (+3.4 percent), Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (+3.2 percent), Grand Junction, Colo. (+2.5 percent), and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Va. (+2.4 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment decreased in 37 of the 38 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2008. Among the large areas, the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment was experienced in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-7.4 percent), followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-7.2 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-6.4 percent), Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C. (-5.6 percent), and Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla. (-5.2 percent). The only large area experiencing an over-the-year percentage gain in employment was Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+0.2 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in February 2009 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Thirty-one of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment losses while 1 reported an increase. The largest over-the-year employment decreases in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-130,000), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.(-126,400), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-110,300), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-94,500), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-72,300). Of the 32 metropolitan divisions, the only one that reported a gain in employment was Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md. (+1,200).
The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Warren-Troy -Farmington Hills, Mich. (-8.3 percent), Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-6.2 percent), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-4.8 percent), and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. (-4.5 percent). The only metropolitan division that experienced an over-the-year percentage increase in employment was Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md. (+0.2 percent).
