Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 USDL 09-0455
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, April 29, 2009
METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: MARCH 2009
Unemployment rates were higher in March than a year earlier in
all 372 metropolitan areas, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Eighteen areas recorded
jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 15 areas registered
rates below 5.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in March
was 9.0 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 5.2 percent a
year earlier. Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm
payroll data were available, 282 areas reported over-the-year de-
clines in employment, 22 reported increases, and 6 had no change.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In March, 109 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at
least 10.0 percent, up from 14 areas a year earlier, while 95
areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 329 areas in March
2008. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest unemployment rate,
25.1 percent. The areas with the next highest rates were Merced,
Calif., 20.4 percent; Yuba City, Calif., 19.5 percent; and Elkhart-
Goshen, Ind., 18.8 percent. Among the 18 areas with jobless rates
of at least 15.0 percent, 12 were located in California. Houma-
Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La., and Iowa City, Iowa, registered the
lowest jobless rates, 3.6 percent each in March, followed closely
by Ames, Iowa, at 3.7 percent. Overall, 158 areas posted unemploy-
ment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.0 percent, 209 areas reported
rates below it, and 5 areas had the same rate. (See table 1.)
Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., recorded the largest jobless rate increase
from March 2008 (+13.0 percentage points). The areas with the next
largest over-the-year rate increases were Bend, Ore. (+9.2 percent-
age points) and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, N.C. (+9.1 points). An
additional 33 areas registered unemployment rate increases of 6.0
percentage points or more, and another 42 areas had rate increases
of 5.0 to 5.9 points.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1
million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., and Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., reported the highest unemployment rates
in March, 14.0 and 12.9 percent, respectively. Nine additional
large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas
with the lowest jobless rates in March were New Orleans-Metairie-
Kenner, La., 5.3 percent, and Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.6 percent.
All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate in-
creases of at least 1.9 percentage points. Portland-Vancouver-
Beaverton, Ore.-Wash., had the largest jobless rate increase from
a year earlier (+6.5 percentage points), followed by Charlotte-
Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C. (+6.2 points) and Detroit-Warren-
Livonia, Mich. (+6.0 points). Seventeen additional large areas
recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 4.0 percent-
age points or more.
- 2 -
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are composed of
34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identi-
fiable employment centers. In March, the two divisions that com-
prise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area regis-
tered the highest jobless rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 14.9
percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 13.4 percent. The di-
visions with the next highest rates were Lawrence-Methuen-Salem,
Mass.-N.H., 12.2 percent, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.,
11.3 percent. Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., reported the low-
est unemployment rate among the divisions, 5.2 percent. Washington-
Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., posted the next lowest rate,
6.1 percent. (See table 2.)
In March, all 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year job-
less rate increases of at least 2.5 percentage points. Detroit-Livonia-
Dearborn, Mich., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., experienced
the largest rate increases (+6.0 percentage points each). Eleven addi-
tional divisions reported over-the-year rate increases of 4.0 percentage
points or more.
In 4 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges
between the highest and lowest division jobless rates were 2.0 percent-
age points or more in March. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., posted
the largest rate difference among its divisions, 5.7 percentage points
(Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 12.2 percent, compared with Framing-
ham, Mass., 6.5 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In March, of the 310 metropolitan areas for which data were available,
282 areas reported over-the-year declines in employment, while 22 reported
increases. Six metropolitan areas had no change. The largest over-the-
year decreases in employment were reported in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa
Ana, Calif. (-221,300), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-
N.J.-Pa. (-219,700), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (-157,600),
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-136,000), and Detroit-Warren-Livonia,
Mich. (-135,300). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in em-
ployment occurred in Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (-12.9 percent), Cape Coral-Fort
Myers, Fla. (-9.7 percent), Yuma, Ariz. (-9.5 percent), and Dalton, Ga.
(-8.6 percent).
The largest over-the-year increase was recorded in Austin-Round Rock,
Texas (+3,300), followed by Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas (+2,300),
Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (+2,200), and Odessa, Texas (+2,100). The largest
over-the-year percentage gains were experienced in Odessa, Texas (+3.4 per-
cent), Midland, Texas (+2.3 percent), and Grand Junction, Colo. (+2.0 per-
cent). (See table 3.)
Over the year, nonfarm employment fell in 37 of the 38 metropolitan
areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2008. The
largest over-the-year percentage declines in employment in these large
areas were posted in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., and Phoenix-Mesa-
Scottsdale, Ariz. (-7.1 percent each), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario,
Calif. (-6.6 percent), and Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C. (-6.1 per-
cent). For the second consecutive month, Austin-Round Rock, Texas, was the
only one of these metropolitan areas to record an over-the-year increase
(+3,300 or +0.4 percent).
- 3 -
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In March 2009, nonfarm payroll employment data were available for 32 met-
ropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment
centers within a metropolitan area. Thirty-one of the 32 divisions recorded
over-the-year employment decreases while 1 area reported an increase. The big-
gest losses were seen in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-149,400),
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (-142,700), New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-
N.J. (-121,000), and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-91,500). (See
table 4.) For the second consecutive month, Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md.,
was the sole metropolitan division reporting an over-the-year increase in
employment (+1,200).
The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among metro-
politan divisions was reported in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-8.0
percent), followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-5.7 percent), Santa
Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-4.8 percent), and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-
Deerfield Beach, Fla., Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., and West Palm Beach-
Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla. (-4.7 percent each). For the second consecu-
tive month, Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, Md., was the only metropolitan
division to post an over-the-year percentage increase in employment (+0.2
percent).
________________________________
The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment release for April is
scheduled to be issued on Friday, May 22. The Metropolitan Area Employment
and Unemployment release for April is scheduled to be issued on Wednesday,
June 3.
