In May, 112 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 6 areas a year earlier, while 97 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 333 areas in May 2008. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rate, 26.8 percent, followed by Yuma, Ariz., at 23.3 percent. Among the 15 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 7 were located in California, 3 were in Michigan, and 2 were in Indiana. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest jobless rate in May, 3.5 percent, followed by Iowa City, Iowa, 3.7 percent, and Ames, Iowa, 3.8 percent. Overall, 148 areas posted unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.1 percent, 215 areas reported rates below it, and 9 areas had the same rate.
For the fifth consecutive month, all 372 metropolitan areas had over the-year unemployment rate increases. Two areas in Indiana that experienced layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing recorded the largest jobless rate increases from May 2008: Kokomo (+11.7 percentage points) and Elkhart-Goshen (+11.4 points). The areas with the next largest over-the-year rate increases were Bend, Ore. (+8.8 percentage points), and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, N.C. (+8.5 points). An additional 31 areas registered unemployment rate increases of 6.0 percentage points or more, and another 44 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., reported the highest unemployment rate in May, 14.9 percent. The large areas with the next highest rates were Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 13.0 percent, and Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C., and Providence-Fall River-Warwick, R.I.-Mass., 12.0 percent each. Ten additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in May were Oklahoma City, Okla., and San Antonio, Texas, 5.7 and 5.8 percent, respectively. All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at least 1.7 percentage points. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash., and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest jobless rate increases from a year earlier (+6.7 and +6.6 percentage points, respectively), followed by Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C. (+6.2 points). Five additional large areas recorded rate increases of 5.0 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 May, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 16.0 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 14.1 percent. The divisions with the next highest rates were Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.4 percent, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., 11.4 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.4 percent. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., posted the next lowest rate, 6.4 percent.
In May, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases of at least 2.4 percentage points. Warren-Troy Farmington Hills, Mich., and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., experienced the largest rate increases (+6.7 and +6.4 percentage points, respectively). Two additional divisions reported over-the-year rate increases of 5.0 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 May. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 5.9 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.4 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., 6.5 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In May, 295 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment and 15 reported increases. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-254,700), followed by New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-232,900), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-209,000), and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich (-154,500). The largest over-the-year percentage declines in employment were reported in Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-13.4 percent), followed by Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz. (-9.1 percent), Prescott, Ariz. (-8.9 percent), and Dalton, Ga., and Holland-Grand Haven, Mich.(-8.8 percent each).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+4,200), Baton Rouge, La. (+1,300), and Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas, and Odessa, Texas (+1,100 each). The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment was reported in Odessa, Texas (+1.8 percent), followed by Bismarck, N.D.(+1.1 percent), Midland, Texas (+1.0 percent), and Champaign-Urbana, Ill., and Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas (+0.9 percent each).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment declined in 37 of the 38 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2008. The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-8.0 percent), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-7.4 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-6.3 percent each), and Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C. (-6.0 percent). Among the large areas, only one reported an increase in employment: Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+0.5 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in May for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. All 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment declines. The largest over-the-year employment decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-185,900), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-183,600), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-131,100), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-106,600), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-71,100).
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-9.2 percent), followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-6.2 percent), Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Mass. (-5.0 percent), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-4.8 percent), and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif., and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-4.7 percent each).
