In October, 98 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 7.0 percent, up from 16 areas a year earlier, while 43 areas posted rates below 4.0 percent, down from 151 areas in October 2007. El Centro, Calif., and neighboring Yuma, Ariz., continued to record the highest unemployment rates, 27.6 and 19.5 percent, respectively. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest jobless rate, 2.2 percent, followed by Logan, Utah-Idaho, at 2.4 percent. Overall, 148 areas posted unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 6.1 percent, 216 areas reported rates below it, and 5 areas had the same rate.
El Centro, Calif., recorded the largest jobless rate increase from October 2007 (+6.8 percentage points), followed by Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (+6.3 points). An additional 31 areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 3.0 percentage points or more, and another 92 areas had rate increases of 2.0 to 2.9 points. Jonesboro, Ark., experienced the largest jobless rate decrease from a year earlier (-0.6 percentage point). Fort Smith, Ark.-Okla., and Morgantown, W.Va., reported the next largest rate decreases (-0.4 percentage point each).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., reported the highest unemployment rate in October, 9.5 percent. Eight additional large areas posted rates of 7.0 percent or more. The large area with the lowest jobless rate in October was Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 4.1 percent. Oklahoma City, Okla., had the next lowest rate, 4.2 percent. All 49 large areas registered higher unemployment rates than in October 2007. The areas with the largest jobless rate increases from a year earlier were Providence-Fall River-War-wick, R.I.-Mass. (+3.8 percentage points), and Riverside-San Bernar-dino-Ontario, Calif. (+3.2 points). Fourteen additional large areas recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 2.0 percentage points or more, and 29 other areas had rate increases of at least 1.0 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. In October, Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., again registered the highest division jobless rate, 10.1 percent, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., at 8.2 percent, and Law-rence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., at 8.1 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md., continued to report the lowest unemployment rate among the divisions, 3.7 percent. Nashua, N.H.-Mass., posted the next lowest rate, 3.8 percent.
In October, all 34 metropolitan divisions again recorded over-the-year jobless rate increases. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.,experienced the largest rate increase (+3.2 percentage points). West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla., registered the next largest unemployment rate increase (+2.7 percentage points). Six additional divisions reported over-the-year rate increases of 2.0 percentage points or more.
In 7 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 October. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 4.3 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 8.1 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 3.8 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were available in October 2008, 125 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year employment gains, 169 reported losses, and 16 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in Houston- Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+52,300), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington, Texas (+50,000), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.- Md.-W.Va. (+35,700), and San Antonio, Texas (+17,900). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported in Grand Junction, Colo. (+3.9 percent), followed by McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+3.6 percent), Laredo, Texas (+3.2 percent), and College Staion-Bryan, Texas (+2.6 percent).
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-55,700), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-50,600), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-49,300), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (-44,800), and Miami-Fort Lauder-dale-Pompano Beach, Fla. (-40,500). The largest over-the-year per-centage decreases in employment were reported in Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz. (-6.1 percent), Flint, Mich. (-5.7 percent), Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-4.5 percent), Dalton, Ga. (-3.7 percent), and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., and St. George, Utah (-3.5 percent each).
Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 16 of the 38 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2007. The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment was posted in San Antonio, Texas (+2.1 percent), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.0 percent), Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+1.9 percent), Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. (+1.8 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+1.7 percent). Among the large areas, the largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were recorded in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-2.8 percent), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-2.6 percent), and Atlanta- Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-1.8 percent each).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in October 2008 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Thirteen of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains while 18 reported losses and one had no change. The largest over-the-year employment gain in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+34,800), followed by Washington-Arling-ton-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+30,900), Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+15,200), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (+15,000). Of the 18 metropolitan divisions that reported losses, the largest over-the-year employment decrease occurred in Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-35,100), followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-29,700), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-26,000),and Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-22,500).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+1.7 percent each), followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+1.3 percent), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (+0.9 percent). Of the metropolitan divisions that reported over-the-year declines in employment, the largest decreases were in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-3.8 percent), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-2.3 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-2.2 percent), and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-2.1 percent each).
