Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 USDL 08-1211
http://www.bls.gov/sae/
Unemployment: (202) 691-6392
http://www.bls.gov/lau/ For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Wednesday, August 27, 2008
METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: JULY 2008
Unemployment rates were higher in July than a year earlier in 338
of the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 25 areas, and unchanged in 6
areas, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor
reported today. Eleven areas recorded jobless rates of at least 10.0
percent, while nine areas registered rates below 3.0 percent. The na-
tional unemployment rate in July was 6.0 percent, not seasonally ad-
justed, up from 4.9 percent a year earlier.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In July, 90 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least
7.0 percent, up from 29 areas a year earlier, while 40 areas posted
rates below 4.0 percent, down from 91 areas in July 2007. El Centro,
Calif., and neighboring Yuma, Ariz., continued to record the highest
unemployment rates, 23.3 and 20.0 percent, respectively. Sioux Falls,
S.D., again registered the lowest jobless rate, 2.4 percent. Idaho
Falls, Idaho, and Rapid City, S.D., reported the next lowest rates,
2.5 percent each. Overall, 153 areas posted unemployment rates above
the U.S. figure of 6.0 percent, 205 areas had rates below it, and 11
areas had the same rate. (See table 1.)
Two Indiana areas--Elkhart-Goshen and Kokomo--recorded the larg-
est jobless rate increases from July 2007 (+4.8 and +4.4 percentage
points, respectively). Both areas experienced layoffs in transpor-
tation equipment manufacturing. Forty-nine additional areas regis-
tered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 2.0 percentage
points or more, and another 177 areas had rate increases of 1.0 to
1.9 percentage points. Jonesboro, Ark., experienced the largest
jobless rate decrease from a year earlier (-1.7 percentage points).
Three more areas, all in Arkansas, logged rate decreases of 1.0 per-
centage point or more: Hot Springs and Pine Bluff (-1.4 points each)
and Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway (-1.0 point).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1
million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., continued to report
the highest unemployment rate, 9.4 percent in July 2008, followed
again by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., at 8.9 percent.
Seven more large areas posted rates of 7.0 percent or more. The
large area with the lowest jobless rate was Oklahoma City, Okla.,
at 4.0 percent. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., and Washington-
Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., had the next lowest rates,
4.1 percent each. Forty-seven large areas had higher unemployment
rates than in July 2007, and two had lower rates. Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., experienced the largest over-the-year
jobless rate increase (+2.4 percentage points), followed by Los
Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif., and Providence-Fall River-
Warwick, R.I.-Mass. (+2.2 points each). Six additional large areas
recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 2.0 percent-
age points or more, and 24 large areas had rate increases from 1.0
to 1.9 percentage points. No large area had a rate decrease of more
than 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier.
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 July, the two divisions that comprise the
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area again registered the
highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 10.9 percent, and
Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 8.3 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-
Gaithersburg, Md., continued to report the lowest unemployment rate
among the divisions, 3.5 percent. Nashua, N.H.-Mass., again posted
the next lowest rate, 3.8 percent. (See table 2.)
- 2 -
In July, all 34 metropolitan divisions again recorded over-the-
year jobless rate increases. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.,
experienced the largest unemployment rate increase (+2.5 percentage
points). Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill., and West Palm Beach-Boca
Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla., registered the next largest rate increases
(+2.1 and +2.0 percentage points, respectively). Fourteen other
divisions reported over-the-year rate increases of 1.0 percentage
point 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 July. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-
N.H., posted the largest rate difference among its divisions, 3.9 per-
centage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.7 percent, com-
pared 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 July, 188 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year
increases in employment, 110 reported decreases, and 12 had no change.
The largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in Dallas-
Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+68,000), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-
Baytown, Texas (+57,100), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+38,900),
and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+35,400).
The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported
in Grand Junction, Colo. (+4.9 percent), followed by McAllen-Edinburg-
Mission, Texas (+4.6 percent), Odessa, Texas, and Pascagoula, Miss.
(+3.5 percent each), and College Station-Bryan, Texas; El Paso, Texas;
and Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash. (+3.4 percent each). (See table 3.)
The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Los
Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-45,000), followed by Detroit-
Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-36,700), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
(-28,300), and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-26,000).
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment was
reported in Flint, Mich. (-5.9 percent), followed by Cape Coral-
Fort Myers, Fla. (-4.2 percent), Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-3.6 percent),
and Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz. (-3.4 percent).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment rose in 22 of the 38 metropoli-
tan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2007.
The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment in these
large metropolitan areas was posted in Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord,
N.C.-S.C. (+3.0 percent), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington,
Texas (+2.3 percent) and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas; San Antonio,
Texas; and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+2.2 percent each). Among
these large areas, 16 reported a decrease in employment. The largest
over-the-year percentage decreases in employment in these areas were
posted by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-2.1 percent),
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.9 percent), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale,
Ariz. (-1.5 percent) and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (-1.3
percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in July 2008 for 32
metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable
employment centers within a metropolitan area. Seventeen of the 32
metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains while
14 reported losses and one had no change. The largest over-the-year
increase in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-
Irving, Texas (+51,800), followed by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
(+33,100), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+31,900), and
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+31,300). The
largest over-the-year decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred
in Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-29,900), followed by Warren-
Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-23,600), Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif.
(-19,600), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-15,100). (See
table 4.)
- 3 -
The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among
the metropolitan divisions was reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas
(+2.5 percent), followed by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.(+2.3 per-
cent), Tacoma, Wash. (+2.1 percent), and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
(+1.9 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in em-
ployment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Santa Ana-
Anaheim-Irvine, Calif., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-2.0
percent each), followed by Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-1.9 per-
cent) and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-1.7 percent).
______________________________
The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment release for
August is scheduled to be issued on Friday, September 19. The
Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for August is
scheduled to be issued on Tuesday, September 30.
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| |
| Hurricane Katrina |
| |
| For July, BLS and its state partners continued to make modi- |
| fications to the usual estimation procedures for the LAUS pro- |
| gram to reflect the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the labor |
| force statistics in affected areas. These modifications includ- |
| ed: (1) modifying the state population controls to account for |
| displacement due to Katrina; (2) developing labor force esti- |
| mates for the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area |
| using an alternative to the model-based method; and (3) not pub- |
| lishing labor force estimates for the months immediately follow- |
| ing the hurricane for the parishes within the New Orleans- |
| Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area and cities within those par- |
| ishes, where the quality of input data was severely compromised |
| by the hurricane. |
| |
| For more information on LAUS procedures and estimates for |
| July 2008, see Hurricane Information: Katrina and Rita on the |
| BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/Katrina/home.htm or call |
| (202) 691-6392. |
| |
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Bureau of Labor Statistics
