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U.S. Metro Area Unemployment Data Release

14 Jan 08

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its metropolitan area employment and unemployment statistics for November 2007 on January 9.

The average unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) for the country was unchanged between October and November 2007, reported at 4.7% for both months (although it did jump to 5.0% in December). There are some changes noticeable at the metro level, however. An initial observation shows that the metro with the lowest jobless rate and the one with highest rate have not lost their position to any other metro despite an increase in their respective rates.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for November range from 1.96% for Idaho Falls, Idaho, to 17.90% for El Centro, California, a large spread of 16 percentage points. Somewhat interestingly, the spread is slightly narrower than in October, when the lowest rate was 1.63% for Idaho Falls and the highest was 18.36% for El Centro.

The table below shows the top-25 metros ranked by the lowest jobless rates (out of the 379 tracked MSAs). We have compared these figures with the October data and noted how these metro rates have change by rankings and percentage points from October to November. The rate distribution range is within one percentage point.

Negative changes represent a decrease in rates and an improvement in ranks. Three metros were among the top 25 in November but not even in top 50 for October; their ranks have improved by more than 25 slots (noted with *).

Top-25 Metro Area Unemployment Rates, November 2007

 
   

Monthly

Percent

 

Rate(%)

Rank

Change

Change

   

In Rank

In Rate

Idaho Falls, ID

1.96

1

0

0.33

Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA

2.07

2

0

0.20

Logan, UT-ID

2.09

3

-1

-0.04

Lafayette, LA

2.22

4

1

0.18

Sioux Falls, SD

2.26

5

-7

-0.16

Casper, WY

2.39

6

1

0.23

Harrisonburg, VA

2.46

7

-7

-0.06

Billings, MT

2.47

8

-1

0.14

Provo-Orem, UT

2.47

8

-8

-0.08

Charlottesville, VA

2.55

10

-6

0

Bismarck, ND

2.57

11

-28*

-0.43*

Bethesda, MD (Division of Washington MSA)

2.61

12

-38*

-0.59*

Huntsville, AL

2.62

13

5

0.34

Fargo, ND-MN

2.63

14

-27*

-0.39*

Salt Lake City, UT

2.65

15

-3

0.05

Rapid City, SD

2.66

16

-9

-0.17

Pocatello, ID

2.68

17

10

0.41

Boise City-Nampa, ID

2.70

18

12

0.46

Santa Fe, NM

2.70

18

8

0.35

Honolulu, HI

2.71

20

9

0.33

Iowa City, IA

2.73

21

-24*

-0.33*

Lake Charles, LA

2.76

22

1

0.09

Midland, TX

2.86

23

-2

0.03

Ames, IA

2.87

24

-10

-0.04

Lincoln, NE

2.89

25

-8

-0.01

Source: BLS and Global Insight

The following table shows the bottom-25 metros ranked by the highest unemployment rates. The distribution of rates here represents a much wider 11-percentage-point spread. It also suggests that most of these metros will need a significant improvement in their jobless rates to get off this list. Compared to top-25 MSAs listed above, the metros listed below did not experience as great a shift in their rankings despite major changes in their unemployment rates, the most glaring example being Monroe, Michigan.

Bottom-25 Metro Area Unemployment Rates, November 2007

 
   

Monthly

Percent

 

Rate(%)

Rank

Change

Change

   

In Rank

In Rate

Kankakee-Bradley, IL

6.94

355

12

0.40

Battle Creek, MI

7.13

356

-2

-0.68

Salinas, CA

7.34

357

1

-0.42

Niles-Benton Harbor, MI

7.41

358

-1

-0.42

Sumter, SC

7.43

359

5

0.08

Monroe, MI

7.47

360

-14

-2.42

Bay City, MI

7.50

361

0

-0.52

Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI

7.54

362

-2

-0.95

Madera, CA

7.74

363

3

-0.14

Redding, CA

7.79

364

2

-0.24

Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, MI

7.83

365

2

-0.54

Pine Bluff, AR

7.87

366

11

0.14

Jackson, MI

8.08

367

0

-0.73

Bakersfield, CA

8.51

368

3

-0.07

Detroit, MI (Division of Detroit-Warren MSA)

8.81

369

-4

-0.77

Stockton, CA

8.87

370

2

-0.05

Fresno, CA

8.91

371

2

-0.11

Flint, MI

9.12

372

-3

-0.79

Hanford-Corcoran, CA

9.15

373

3

-0.19

Visalia-Porterville, CA

9.22

374

2

-0.20

Modesto, CA

9.28

375

4

-0.10

Yuba City, CA

10.03

376

0

-0.49

Merced, CA

10.92

377

0

0.27

Yuma, AZ

13.81

378

0

0.23

El Centro, CA

17.90

379

0

-0.46

Source: BLS and Global Insight

by Mohammad Iqbal

 
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