Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary
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.
- Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Technical Note
- Table 1. Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and metropolitan area
- Table 2. Civilian labor force and unemployment by state, selected metropolitan area, and metropolitan division (1)
- Table 3. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by state and metropolitan area
- Table 4. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by state, selected metropolitan area, and metropolitan division
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Last Modified Date: April 29, 2009