Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary

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http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm

This is NOT encouraging...

Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary
Technical information:
Employment: [phone] USDL 08-0128
http://www.bls.gov/sae/
Unemployment: [phone]
http://www.bls.gov/lau/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact : [phone] Tuesday, January 29, 2008



METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: DECEMBER 2007

Unemployment rates were higher in December than a year earlier in 277 of
the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 67 areas, and unchanged in 25 areas,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported
today. Eight metropolitan areas, seven of which are located in California,
recorded jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent. Twenty-two areas regis-
tered rates below 3.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in December
was 4.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 4.3 percent a year ear-
lier.

Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

In December, 32 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates of at
least 7.0 percent, up from 22 areas a year earlier, while 108 areas posted
rates below 4.0 percent, down from 168 areas in December 2006. Two adjacent,
heavily agricultural areas continued to register the highest jobless rates:
El Centro, Calif., 17.9 percent, and Yuma, Ariz., 12.4 percent. Logan, Utah-
Idaho, had the lowest rate, 2.1 percent, followed by Idaho Falls, Idaho, at
2.2 percent, and Santa Fe, N.M., at 2.4 percent. Overall, 209 areas recorded
unemployment rates below the U.S. figure of 4.8 percent, 148 areas had higher
rates, and 12 areas had the same rate. (See table 1.)

Sixty-three areas reported over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at
least 1.0 percentage point in December, while two areas posted rate decreases
of 1.0 point or more. The areas recording the largest rate increases were
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., El Centro, Calif., and Punta Gorda, Fla. (+3.0
percentage points each). Of the 60 remaining areas with rate increases of
1.0 percentage point or more, about two-thirds also were located in California
or Florida. Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner, Mass., registered the largest over-
the-year jobless rate decrease in December (-1.2 percentage points), followed
by Decatur, Ala. (-1.0 point).

Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or
more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., again recorded the highest unemployment
rate, 8.0 percent in December. The areas posting the next highest rates were
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., at 6.2 percent, and Cleveland-Elyria-
Mentor, Ohio, at 6.1 percent. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-
W.Va., registered the lowest jobless rate among the large areas, 3.0 percent.
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala., reported the next lowest rate, 3.4 percent, followed
by Richmond, Va., and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C., at 3.5
percent each. Forty-four of the large areas recorded higher unemployment
rates than in December 2006, four registered lower rates, and one had no change.
Among the large areas, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.,reported the larg-
est jobless rate increase (+1.7 percentage points), followed closely by River-
side-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+1.6 points) and Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.
(+1.5 points). Nine additional large areas posted rate increases of 1.0 per-
centage point or more. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., had the largest
unemployment rate decrease from a year earlier (-0.7 percentage point). No
other large area had a rate decrease greater than 0.3 percentage point.

Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are composed of 34 metropoli-
tan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment cen-
ters. In December 2007, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-
Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area continued to post the highest unemployment
rates: Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 9.0 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills,
7.3 percent. Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., had the next highest rate,
6.5 percent. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md., again reported the lowest
division unemployment rate, 2.5 percent. Framingham, Mass., and Washington-
Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., recorded the next lowest jobless rates,
3.2 percent each. Seven additional divisions registered jobless rates below
4.0 percent. (See table 2.)


- 2 -


In December, 21 of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unem-
ployment rate increases, and 13 had rate decreases. Lake County-Kenosha County,
Ill.-Wis., and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach,Fla., posted the largest
unemployment rate increases from December 2006 (+1.5 percentage points each).
Five additional divisions reported rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or
more. Eight of the nine divisions within the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-
N.H., metropolitan area registered the largest rate declines among the divisions,
ranging from -1.2 percentage points to -0.5 point.

In 4 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 December 2007. The metropolitan area that had the largest rate difference
among its divisions, 3.3 percentage points, was Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-
N.H. (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 6.5 percent, compared with Framingham,
Mass., 3.2 percent).

Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

In December, 305 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm
payroll employment, 48 reported decreases, and 14 had no change. The largest over-
the-year employment gain was posted in New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island,
N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+79,000), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+65,800),
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+59,800), and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta,
Ga. (+52,600). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were
reported in Danville, Va. (+6.8 percent), Billings, Mont. (+6.6 percent), and
Great Falls, Mont., and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+5.4 percent each). (See
table 3.)

The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-
Livonia, Mich. (-36,700), Flint, Mich. (-5,100), Saginaw-Saginaw Township North,
Mich. (-2,900), and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. (-2,800). The largest
over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Anderson, Ind.
(-3.7 percent), Bay City, Mich. (-3.4 percent), Flint, Mich. (-3.3 percent),
Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich. (-3.1 percent), and Sumter, S.C. (-3.0 per-
cent).

Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 36 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
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+2.7 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario,
Calif. (+2.5 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.4 percent), and Orlando-
Kissimmee, Fla. (+2.3 percent). Among the largest areas, the only reported decrease
in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.8 percent).

Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in December 2007 for 32 metropoli-
tan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers with-
in a metropolitan area. Twenty-nine of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-
the-year employment gains and 3 reported losses. The largest over-the-year increases
in the metropolitan divisions occurred in New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.
(+62,000), Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+49,400), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
(+41,100), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+35,000). Declines
were seen in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-20,500), Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn,
Mich. (-16,200), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-6,600). (See table 4.)

The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropoli-
tan divisions were reported in Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.8 percent), Dallas-
Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.4 percent), Tacoma, Wash. (+2.0 percent), and Fort Worth-
Arlington, Texas (+1.9 percent). Percentage declines in employment were reported in
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-2.0 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.
(-1.7 percent), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-0.4 percent).