In June, 98 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment rates below 4.0 percent, up from 83 areas a year earlier, while 22 areas had rates of at least 7.0 percent, down from 26 areas in June 2006. Idaho Falls, Idaho, again reported the lowest jobless rate, 1.8 percent, followed by Billings, Mont., and Boise City-Nampa, Idaho, at 2.1 percent each. Strong economic growth in many Rocky Mountain states has resulted in low unemployment rates in several areas-12 of the 19 areas with jobless rates below 3.0 percent were in Idaho, Montana, Utah, or Wyoming. Four heavily agricultural areas registered the highest rates in June: El Centro, Calif., 16.6 percent; Yuma, Ariz., 16.2 percent; Merced, Calif., 9.4 percent; and Yuba City, Calif., 9.3 percent. El Centro and Yuma are adjacent areas on the Mexican border where the growing season slows considerably due to the extreme summer temperatures. Overall, 208 areas posted unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 4.7 percent, 152 areas had higher rates, and 9 areas had the same rate.
Two Mississippi areas severely affected by Hurricane Katrina reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate decreases in June: Gulfport-Biloxi (-4.3 percentage points) and Pascagoula (-1.9 points). The hurricane struck in August 2005, and unemployment rates rose sharply in these areas in subsequent months. Thirty-four additional areas recorded over-the-year rate decreases of 1.0 percentage point or more in June. El Centro, Calif., again registered the largest unemployment rate increase from a year earlier (+1.9 percentage points), followed by Mansfield, Ohio (+1.3 points). Six other areas posted jobless rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more from
June 2006.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, those recording the lowest jobless rates in June were Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., 3.0 percent; Richmond, Va., 3.2 percent; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 3.3 percent; and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C., 3.4 percent. The large area with the highest unemployment rate again was Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., 8.1 percent. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, had the next highest rate, 6.3 percent. Twenty-four large areas reported lower unemployment rates than in June 2006, 21 registered higher rates, and 4 had no change. Among these large areas, Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark., posted the largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease (-1.3 percentage points), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (-1.1 points) and Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn. (-1.0 point). Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase (+0.9 percentage point). Four other large areas, all in the Midwest, had rate increases of more than one-half 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 divisions reporting the lowest unemployment rates in June were Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md., 3.2 percent; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 3.3 percent; and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., 3.4 percent each. Four additional divisions registered rates below 4.0 percent. The divisions with the highest unemployment rates again were Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., 9.2 percent; Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.6 percent; and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., 7.3 percent.
Sixteen of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment rate decreases in June, 16 had rate increases, and 2 had rates that were unchanged. Gary, Ind., registered the largest over-the-year jobless rate decline (-1.0 percentage point). The divisions reporting the next largest rate declines were Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (-0.9 percentage point), and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, and Tacoma, Wash. (-0.8 point each). Chicago-Naper-ville-Joliet, Ill., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., posted the largest jobless rate increases from a year earlier (+0.9 percentage point each).
In 4 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 June. The metropolitan area that had the largest rate difference among its divisions, 3.6 percentage points, was Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.6 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 4.0 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In June, 303 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 58 reported decreases, and 6 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment gain was posted in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+83,800), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+76,500), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+63,100), and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (+61,600). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (+8.2 percent), Provo-Orem, Utah (+5.7 percent), Iowa City, Iowa (+5.4 percent), and El Centro, Calif. (+5.3 percent).
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-31,000), Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio (-5,600), Dayton, Ohio (-4,800), and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. (-4,100). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Anderson, Ind. (-3.7 percent), Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-2.7 percent), and Atlantic City, N.J., and Flint, Mich. (-2.5 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. (+3.5 percent), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (+3.3 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+3.1 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.9 percent). Among the largest areas, the only reported decreases in employment were in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.5 percent) and Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio (-0.5 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in June 2007 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable
employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-nine of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains and 3
reported losses. The largest over-the-year increases in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+61,400), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+48,100), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+40,200), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+39,000).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+3.0 percent), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.8 percent), Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.7 percent), and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (+2.2 percent). Percentage declines in employment were reported in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-1.5 percent each), and Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. (-0.1 percent).
