In January, 89 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 12 areas a year earlier, while 109 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 320 areas in January 2008. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rate, 24.2 percent. The areas with the next highest rates were Merced, Calif., 18.9 percent, and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., 18.3 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, 3.7 percent in January. Overall, 157 areas posted unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 8.5 percent, 209 areas reported rates below it, and 6 areas had the same rate.
Two manufacturing centers in Indiana recorded the largest jobless rate increases from January 2008, Elkhart-Goshen (+13.0 percentage points) and Kokomo (+8.9 points). An additional 12 areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 6.0 percentage points or more, and another 26 areas had rate increases of 5.0 to 5.9 points. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, was the sole area without an over-the-year rate change.
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 January, 13.0 and 11.8 percent, respectively. Five additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large area with the lowest jobless rate in January was Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.2 percent. All 49 large areas registered higher unemployment rates than in January 2008 by at least a full percentage point. Charlotte- Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+5.2 percentage points), followed closely by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+5.1 points). Nine additional large areas recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 4.0 percent- age points or more, and 12 other areas had rate increases of at least 3.0 points.
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 January, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest division jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 14.2 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 12.3 percent. The divisions with the next highest rates were Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 11.7 percent, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., 10.8 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 4.8 percent. Nashua, N.H.-Mass., posted the next lowest rate, 5.6 percent.
In January, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases of at least 1.7 percentage points. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., experienced the largest rate increases (+5.1 and 4.8 percentage points, respectively). Five additional divisions reported over-the-year rate increases of 4.0 percentage points or more, and 10 others had increases of 3.0 points or more.
In 7 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 January. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.1 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 11.7 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 5.6 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were available in January 2009, 254 metropolitan areas recorded over-the-year employment decreases, 55 reported gains, and 1 was unchanged. The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Los Angeles- Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-175,600), New York-Northern New Jersey- Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-168,600), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-141,700), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-126,700), and Chicago- Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-116,300). The largest over-the- year percentage decreases in employment were recorded in Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-12.3 percent), Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-9.1 percent), Yuma, Ariz. (-8.9 percent), Prescott, Ariz. (-8.5 percent), and Dalton, Ga. (-7.6 percent).
The largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+17,200), followed by Oklahoma City, Okla. (+7,000), Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+6,600), Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (+4,700), and Anchorage, Alaska (+3,900). The largest over-the-year per- centage increases in employment were reported in Odessa, Texas (+5.0 percent), Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (+4.3 percent), College Station-Bryan, Texas (+3.8 percent), Midland, Texas (+3.5 percent), and Grand Junction, Colo. (+3.0 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment decreased in 35 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. (-6.7 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-6.1 percent), and Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-4.2 percent each). The only large areas experiencing over-the-year percentage gains in employment were Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+0.9 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+0.7 percent), and San Antonio, Texas (+0.2 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in January 2009 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Thirty of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment losses while 2 reported increases. The largest over-the-year employment decreases in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-111,000), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-106,000), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-92,000), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.(-83,900), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-64,600). Of the 32 metropolitan divisions, the only 2 that reported gains in employment were Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+2,800) and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2,700).
The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-8.1 percent), Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-6.5 percent), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-4.3 percent), and Edison-New Brunswick, N.J., and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. (-4.0 percent each). The only two metropolitan divisions that experienced over-the-year percent-age increases in employment were Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+0.3 percent) and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+0.1 percent).
