Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 137 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 4.0 percent, down from 155 areas a year earlier, while 19 areas posted rates of at least 7.0 percent, up slightly from 18 areas in November 2006. Idaho Falls, Idaho, again had the lowest jobless rate, 1.8 percent, followed by Logan, Utah-Idaho, at 2.0 percent, and Sioux Falls, S.D., at 2.1 percent. Two adjacent, heavily agricultural areas continued to register the highest rates: El Centro, Calif., 19.1 percent, and Yuma, Ariz., 12.4 percent. Merced, Calif., had the next highest rate in November, 10.3 percent. Overall, 203 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 4.5 percent, 151 areas had higher rates, and 15 areas had the same rate.
Two Florida areas registered the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increases in November: Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Punta Gorda (+2.4 percentage points each). Two California areas-El Centro and Merced-posted the next largest rate increases (+2.2 percentage points each). Thirty-four additional areas, nearly two-thirds of which also were located in California or Florida, recorded jobless rate increases of at least 1.0 percentage point from a year earlier. Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., an area severely affected by Hurricane Katrina, continued to report the largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease in November (-1.9 percentage points). Seven additional areas had over-the-year rate decreases of 1.0 percentage point or more.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Birmingham-Hoover, Ala., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., recorded the lowest unemployment rates in November, 3.0 percent each, followed by Richmond, Va., and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C., at 3.2 percent each. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., again posted the highest rate among the large areas, 7.2 percent. Two California areas registered the next highest jobless rates: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario and Sacramento--Arden-Arcade-Roseville, 6.0 and 5.6 percent, respectively. Twenty-six of the large areas recorded higher unemployment rates in November 2007 than in November 2006, 17 registered lower rates, and 6 had no changes. Among the large areas, Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., reported the largest jobless rate increase (+1.2 percentage points), followed closely by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (+1.1 points each), and Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, Calif. (+1.0 point). Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind., had the largest unemployment rate decrease from a year earlier (-0.9 percentage point). The areas posting the next largest jobless rate decreases were Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., and New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. (-0.8 percentage point each).
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. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md., reported the lowest division unemployment rate in November, 2.6 percent. Framingham, Mass., Nashua, N.H.-Mass., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., recorded the next lowest jobless rates, 3.1 percent each. Thirteen additional divisions registered jobless rates below 4.0 percent. The two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area continued to post the highest unemployment rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 8.4 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 6.4 percent. Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., had the next highest rate, 6.0 percent.
Nineteen of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment rate decreases in November, 13 had rate increases, and 2 had no rate changes from a year earlier. Eight of the nine divisions within the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., metropolitan area registered the largest rate declines among the divisions, ranging from -1.2 percentage points to -0.7 point. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., also had a jobless rate decline of -0.7 percentage point. Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis., posted the largest unemployment rate increase (+1.1 percentage points), followed closely by Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill., Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla. (+1.0 point each).
In 5 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 November. The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., metropolitan area had the largest rate difference (2.9 percentage points) among its divisions (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 6.0 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., and Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 3.1 percent each). Within the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area, the range between divisions was 2.0 percentage points (Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 8.4 percent, compared with Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 6.4 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 304 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment,54 reported decreases, and 9 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+80,000), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+63,500), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+58,800), and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (+52,500). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported in Danville, Va. (+7.4 percent), followed by Billings, Mont. (+6.1 percent), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, and Provo-Orem, Utah (+5.2 percent each), and Jacksonville, N.C. (+5.1 percent).
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-33,300), Flint, Mich. (-4,800), Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. (-2,900), and Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich. (-2,700). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Bay City, Mich. (-4.1 percent), Flint, Mich. (-3.1 percent), Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich. (-2.9 percent), Merced, Calif. (-2.5 percent), and Anderson, Ind. (-2.3 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 36 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. (+3.1 percent), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+2.6 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.4 percent), and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.2 percent each). Among the largest areas, only one reported a decrease in employment: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.7 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in November 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, while 3 reported losses. The largest over-the-year employment increase in the metropolitan divisions occurred in New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+61,400), followed by Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+46,800), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+38,300), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (+37,500), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+33,200).
The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.6 percent), followed by Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.3 percent), Tacoma, Wash. (+2.2 percent), and Camden, N.J., and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.0 percent each). The three metropolitan divisions reporting over-the-year decreases in employment were Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-1.9 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-1.5 percent), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-0.1 percent).
