Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In July, 91 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 4.0 percent, down slightly from 93 areas a year earlier, while 28 areas posted rates of at least 7.0 percent, down from 36 areas in July 2006. Idaho Falls, Idaho, again had the lowest jobless rate, 1.5 percent, followed by two additional Idaho areas-Boise City-Nampa and Coeur d'Alene-at 1.9 percent each. Two adjacent heavily agricultural areas with extreme weather registered the highest jobless rates in July: El Centro, Calif., 20.2 percent, and Yuma, Ariz., 19.5 percent. Overall, 221 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 4.9 percent, 140 areas had higher rates, and 8 areas had the same rate.
Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., an area severely affected by Hurricane Katrina,continued to report the largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease in July (-3.9 percentage points). Kokomo, Ind., had the next largest rate decline (-3.6 percentage points). Twenty-five additional areas had rate decreases of 1.0 percentage point or more; none of these decreases were greater than 1.9 points. El Centro, Calif., again registered the largest unemployment rate increase from a year earlier (+2.1 percentage points). Twelve otherareas, nine of which were in Florida, had jobless rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more from July 2006.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Richmond, Va., recorded the lowest unemployment rate in July, 3.2 percent, followed closely by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., at 3.3 percent each. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., again posted the highest rate among the large areas, 8.4 percent. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., had the next highest rates, 6.3 and 6.1 percent, respectively. Twenty-four large areas recorded lower unemployment rates than in July 2006, 21 registered higher rates, and 4 had no changes. Among the large areas, Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark., and Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tenn., reported the largest jobless rate decreases (-1.3 and -1.1 percentage points, respectively). Oklahoma City, Okla., had the largest unemployment rate increase from a year earlier (+0.8 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. The two divisions that compose the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., metropolitan area-Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.-reported the lowest division unemployment rates in July 2007, 3.3 percent each. Four additional divisions registered rates below 4.0 percent. The divisions with the highest unemployment rates again were Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., 9.9 percent; Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.7 percent; and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., 7.4 percent.
Sixteen of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment rate decreases in July, 15 had rate increases, and 3 had rates that were unchanged from those of July 2006. Among the divisions, Gary, Ind., registered the largest jobless rate decline from a year earlier (-0.8 percentage point), while Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill., reported the largest increase (+0.8 point).
In 6 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 July. The metropolitan area that had the largest rate difference among its divisions, 3.8 percentage points, was Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. -N.H. (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.7 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 3.9 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In July, 322 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 41 reported decreases, and 4 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment gain was reported in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+91,000), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+82,000) and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+76,800). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (+10.1 percent), Provo-Orem, Utah (+6.0 percent), and Columbus, Ind. (+5.8 percent).
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-18,000), Flint, Mich. (-4,900), Atlantic City, N.J. (-4,100), and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. (-3,500). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Flint, Mich. (-3.3 percent) and Atlantic City, N.J., and Bay City, Mich. (-2.6 percent each).
Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 35 of the 37 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2006. The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+3.9 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+3.4 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (+3.2 percent each). Among the largest areas, the only reported decreases in employment were in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-0.9 percent) and Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, with less than a 0.1 percent decline.
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in July 2007 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 gains and 2 reported losses. The largest over-the-year level increases occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+68,700), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.- N.J. (+59,100), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+45,800), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+41,300).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+3.4 percent), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+3.2 percent), Nashua, N.H.-Mass. (+2.8 percent), Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.7 percent), and Tacoma, Wash. (+2.6 percent). Percentage declines in employment were reported in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-1.0 percent) and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-0.9 percent).
