In May, 157 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 4.0 percent, up from 137 areas a year earlier, while 14 areas posted rates of at least 7.0 percent, down from 19 areas in May 2006. Idaho Falls, Idaho, recorded the lowest unemployment rate, 1.3 percent, followed by two Montana areas-Billings at 1.5 percent and Missoula at 1.6 percent. Strong economic growth in many Rocky Mountain states has resulted in low unemployment rates in several areas. Four heavily agricultural areas registered the highest jobless rates in May: Yuma, Ariz., 17.9 percent; El Centro, Calif., 16.2 percent; Yuba City, Calif., 9.6 percent; and Merced, Calif., 9.5 percent. Yuma and El Centro are adjacent areas on the Mexican border with extreme weather. Overall, 208 areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 4.3 percent, 155 areas had higher rates, and 6 areas had the same rate.
Two Mississippi areas severely affected by Hurricane Katrina continued to report the largest over-the-year jobless rate decreases in May: Gulfport-Biloxi and Pascagoula (-6.2 and -2.8 percentage points, respectively). The hurricane struck in August 2005, and unemployment rates rose sharply in these areas in subsequent months. Forty additional areas had rate decreases of 1.0 percentage point or more. El Centro, Calif., again registered the largest unemployment rate increase from a year earlier (+2.5 percentage points), followed by two Louisiana areas, Monroe and Shreveport-Bossier City (+1.8 and +1.6 points, respectively). Six other areas posted rate increases 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., recorded the lowest unemployment rates, 2.7 percent each. The large areas with the next lowest rates were Richmond, Va., at 2.8 percent and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., at 2.9 percent. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., again posted the highest jobless rate among the large areas, 6.9 percent. The only other large areas that reported rates above 5.0 percent were Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 5.6 and 5.1 percent, respectively. Twenty-nine large areas recorded lower unemployment rates than in May 2006, 16 registered higher rates, and 4 had no changes. Four areas in Texas reported the largest jobless rate decreases: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (- 1.2 percentage points) and Austin-Round Rock, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, and San Antonio (-1.0 point each). Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis., had the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase (+0.8 percentage point), followed by Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+0.6 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. The divisions reporting the lowest unemployment rates in May were the same as those reporting the lowest rates in April: Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md., 2.7 percent, and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 2.9 percent each. Twelve additional divisions registered rates below 4.0 percent. The divisions recording the highest jobless rates were again Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., at 7.8 percent, and Lawrence-Methuen-Salem,Mass.-N.H., at 7.3 percent. No other division had a rate above 6.2 percent.
Eighteen of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment rate decreases in May, 13 had rate increases, and 3 had rates that were unchanged. Gary, Ind., registered the largest over-the-year jobless rate decline (-1.1 percentage points). The two divisions that compose the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, metropolitan area reported the next largest rate declines: Dallas-Plano-Irving (-1.0 percentage point) and Fort Worth-Arlington (-0.9 point). Seven other divisions had rate declines of at least 0.5 percentage point. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., posted the largest jobless rate increases from a year earlier (+0.5 percentage point each).
In 3 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 May. The metropolitan area that had the largest rate difference among its divisions, 3.6 percentage points, was Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.3 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 3.7 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In May, 312 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 45 reported decreases, and 10 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment gain was posted in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+90,900), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+81,100), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+71,400), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (+69,600), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (+61,700). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (+10.2 percent), Provo-Orem, Utah (+5.7 percent), Jacksonville, N.C. (+5.3 percent), and Madera,
Calif. and St. George, Utah (+5.2 percent each).
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-31,300), Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio (-6,000), Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. (-4,900), and Dayton, Ohio (-4,500). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Anderson, Ind. (-3.7 percent), Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-2.5 percent), Flint, Mich. (-2.3 percent), and Atlantic City, N.J., and Janesville, Wis. (-2.1 percent each).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment rose in 35 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (+3.7 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+3.5 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+3.3 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+3.2 percent). Among the largest areas, the only reported decreases in employment were in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.5 percent) and Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio (-0.6 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in May 2007 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Thirty of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains and 2 reported losses. The largest over-the-year increases in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+69,500), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+53,400), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale,Calif. (+49,600) and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+45,700).
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+3.4 percent), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+3.1 percent), Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.6 percent), and San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. (+2.4 percent). Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., reported the larger of the two percentage declines in employment among the metropolitan divisions (-1.7 percent), followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-1.3 percent).
