In March, 112 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, down from 166 areas a year earlier, while 65 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, up from 44 areas a year earlier. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rate, 24.6 percent in March; three other areas had rates above 20.0 percent. Among the 14 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 12 were located in California. Lincoln, Neb., and Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rates, 4.1 and 4.2 percent, respectively. A total of 219 areas recorded March unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 9.2 percent, 150 areas reported rates above it, and 3 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., registered the largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease in March (-4.6 percentage points), followed by Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich. (-4.4 points). An additional 14 areas recorded jobless rate decreases of 3.0 percentage points or more from a year earlier, and 47 areas had rate decreases between 2.0 and 2.9 points. Baton Rouge, La., reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+1.6 percentage points). Five other areas had rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more, three of which also were located in Louisiana.
In the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, the highest unemployment rates in March were registered in Riverside- San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 13.9 percent, Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 13.3 percent, and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif., 12.7 percent. Twelve additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The lowest jobless rate among the large areas was recorded in Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.2 percent, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 5.8 percent. Forty-seven of the large areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate decreases, while only two areas registered rate increases. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., experienced the largest unemployment rate decrease from March 2010 (-3.3 percentage points). The next largest over-the-year rate decrease was recorded in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-2.3 percentage points). Four other large areas reported rate decreases of at least 2.0 percentage points. The only large area with an over-the-year jobless rate
increase of 1.0 percentage point or more was New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. (+1.3 points).
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In March 2011, Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., registered the highest jobless rate among the divisions, 12.7 percent, while Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., reported the lowest division rate, 5.2 percent.
All but one of the metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate decreases in March. The two divisions that make up the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area posted the largest rate declines from a year earlier: Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn (-3.4 and -3.3 percentage points, respectively). Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., experienced the only over-the-year unemployment rate increase among divisions (+0.4 percentage point).
In 5 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 March. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., recorded the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.9 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.4 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 5.5 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In March, 260 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 101 reported decreases, and 11 were unchanged. The largest over-the-year employment increase occurred in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+69,000), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+51,800), Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (+47,700), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+47,300), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (+39,500). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment occurred in Sandusky, Ohio (+7.8 percent), followed by Joplin, Mo.(+6.9 percent), and Kokomo, Ind. (+6.7 percent).
The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif. (-14,600), followed by Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. (-7,500), Baltimore-Towson, Md. (-5,300), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-4,900), and Trenton-Ewing, N.J. (-3,900). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment occurred in Pine Bluff, Ark. (-3.2 percent), followed by Lewiston, Idaho-Wash., and Yuma, Ariz. (-2.7 percent each).
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 31 of the 36 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2010. The large area with the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment was Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. (+2.8 percent), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.4 percent), and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+2.1 percent each). The large area with the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment was Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif. (-1.8 percent), followed by Baltimore-Towson, Md. (-0.4 percent), and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-0.2 percent each).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in March 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, while 3 reported losses. The largest over-the-year employment increase in the metropolitan divisions was registered in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+53,400), followed by Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (+44,800), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+39,200), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+29,000). The largest over-the-year employment decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-7,800), followed by Camden, N.J. (-4,400), and Newark-Union, N.J.-Pa. (-1,300).
The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the metropolitan divisions was posted in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.7 percent), followed by Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, Mass.-N.H. (+2.1 percent), and Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+1.9 percent each). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Camden, N.J. (-0.9 percent), followed by Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-0.8 percent), and Newark-Union, N.J.-Pa. (-0.1 percent).
