In November, 125 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 21 areas a year earlier; while 80 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 255 areas in November 2008. El Centro, Calif., and neighboring Yuma, Ariz., continued to record the highest unemployment rates, 29.2 and 21.1 percent, respectively. Among the 17 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 11 were located in California and 3 were in Michigan. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate in November, 3.4 percent, followed by Fargo, N.D.-Minn., and Grand Forks, N.D.-Minn., 3.7 percent each. Overall, 143 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.4 percent, and 229 areas reported rates below it.
Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich., and Palm Coast, Fla., recorded the largest jobless rate increases from November 2008 (+5.7 percentage points each), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., and Rockford, Ill. (+5.6 points each), and Weirton-Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio (+5.5 points). An additional 10 areas registered rate increases of 5.0 percentage points or more. While no metropolitan area posted an over-the-year unemployment rate decrease, 16 areas reported rate increases of less than a full percentage point.
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 November, 15.4 percent. The large area with the next highest rate was Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.2 percent. Fifteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in November were New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.1 percent each, and Oklahoma City, Okla., 6.4 percent. All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of a full percentage point or more. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+5.6 percentage points). The next largest rate increases occurred in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+4.7 percentage points), and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+4.5
points).
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 November, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area registered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 16.4 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 14.8 percent. The division with the next highest rate was Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.8 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.4 percent, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.3 percent. These two divisions make up the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. metropolitan area.
In November, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases of at least 1.5 percentage points. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., experienced the largest rate increases (+5.8 and +5.4 percentage points, respectively). Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., posted the next largest rate increase (+4.3 percentage points).
In 4 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 November. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 6.2 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.8 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., 6.6 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 354 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment, 14 reported increases, and 1 remained unchanged. The largest over-the-year employment decrease was recorded in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-194,900), followed by Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-186,600), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (-186,100), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-128,600), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-117,100), and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
(-110,200). The largest over-the-year percentage losses in employment were reported in Grand Junction, Colo. (-7.9 percent), Flint, Mich. (-7.7 percent), Monroe, Mich. (-7.6 percent), and Kokomo, Ind. and Naples-Marco Island, Fla. (-7.5 percent each).
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3,600), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas(+2,700), and Danville, Va. (+1,200). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3.8 percent), Danville, Va. (+3.1 percent), Sandusky, Ohio (+2.6 percent), and Hinesville-Fort Stewart, Ga. (+2.1 percent).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment declined in all 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. (-6.8 percent), Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (-6.7 percent), and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-6.0 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in November 2009 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Thirty-one of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment losses. The largest over-the-year employment decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-167,400), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-141,900), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (-123,500), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-93,400). Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md. was the only metropolitan division with an employment increase over the year (+5,900), which was a 1.0 percent gain.
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-8.3 percent), followed by San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (-4.9 percent), Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-4.7 percent), and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-4.4 percent).
