Thumbs Up: DOL Reports Jobless Rate Down in 329 of 372 areas and jobs up in 239 in December

METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- DECEMBER 2011

Unemployment rates were lower in December than a year earlier in 329 of the 372 metropolitan areas, higher in 36 areas, and unchanged in 7 areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Ten areas recorded jobless rates higher than 15.0 percent, while 24 areas registered rates of less than 5.0 percent. Two hundred thirty-nine metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payrollemployment, 127 reported decreases, and 6 had no change. The national unemploymentrate in December was 8.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 9.1 percent ayear earlier.

Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

In December, 66 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent,down from 110 areas a year earlier, while 125 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent,up from 71 areas in December 2010. El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., recorded the highest unemployment rates in December 2011, 26.8 and 23.1 percent, respectively.

Seven of the other eight areas with jobless rates above 15.0 percent were located in California. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate, 3.2 percent. The areas with the next lowest rates were Lincoln, Neb., and Fargo, N.D.-Minn., 3.6 and 3.7 percent, respectively. A total of 225 areas recorded December unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 8.3 percent, 143 areas reported rates above it, and 4 areas had rates equal to that of the nation. (See table 1.)

The largest over-the-year unemployment rate decreases in December were registered in Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-W.Va. (-2.8 percentage points), and Redding, Calif. (-2.7 points). Twenty-seven other areas recorded rate declines of 2.0 percentage points or more, and an additional 139 areas had decreases of at least 1.0 point.

Two areas in Washington, Kennewick-Pasco-Richland and Yakima, reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate increases (+1.8 and +1.4 percentage points, respectively).

Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, the highest unemployment rates in December were registered in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 12.7 percent, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 12.2 percent. Five additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The lowest jobless rates among the large areas were recorded in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 5.5 percent each. Forty-six  of the large areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate decreases, while three  areas registered increases. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., experienced the largest  unemployment rate decline from December 2010 (-2.4 percentage points), followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla., and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (-2.2 points each). The large area with the largest over-the-year jobless rate  increase was Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. (+0.6 percentage point).

Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In 

December 2011, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., registered the highest jobless rate among the divisions, 11.6 percent. Framingham, Mass., reported the lowest division rate, 4.8 percent, closely followed by Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md., 4.9 percent. (See table 2.)

Thirty of the metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year jobless rate decreases in December, while three divisions registered increases and one had no change. 

Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., posted the largest rate decline from a year earlier (-2.8 percentage points). Eighteen other divisions reported rate decreases between 1.0 and 1.9 percentage points. Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill., experienced the largest unemployment rate increase from a year earlier (+0.7 percentage point).

In 3 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges between the highest and lowest division jobless rates were 2.0 percentage points or more in December. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., recorded the largest rate difference among its divisions, 5.6 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 10.4 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., 4.8 percent).

Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

In December, 239 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 127 reported decreases, and 6 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase occurred in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+75,800), followed by New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+47,900), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+45,700), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (+41,900). The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported in Columbus, Ind. (+6.4 percent), followed by Casper, Wyo.(+5.9 percent), and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Va. (+5.2 percent). 

The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. (-6,300), New Haven, Conn. (-4,100), and Montgomery, Ala. (-3,900). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Missoula, Mont. (-6.5 percent), Abilene, Texas (-5.3 percent), and Dalton, Ga. (-4.9 percent).

Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 32 of the 36 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2010. The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+3.0 percent each), and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (+2.5 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind., and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. (-0.2 percent each).

Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in December 2011 for 32 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-four of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment gains and 8 reported losses. The largest over-the-year increases in the metropolitan divisions occurred in New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+48,200), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+36,900), and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. (+32,100). The largest over-the-year decreases in the metropolitan divisions were in Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (-9,900), Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md.  (-5,700), and Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. (-4,100). (See table 4.)

The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions were reported in Framingham, Mass. (+3.0 percent), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.7 percent), and Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, Mass.-N.H., and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (+2.2 percent each). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. (-1.2 percent), Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md. (-1.0 percent), Nashua, N.H.-Mass. (-0.9 percent), and Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (-0.8 percent).