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Digital News Report – The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that unemployment was higher in November 2009 compared to a year earlier. The jobless rate was higher in all 375 metropolitan areas. In some areas (13 areas) the rate was below 5 percent.
We are including the complete BLS report here:
METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT – NOVEMBER 2009
Unemployment rates were higher in November than a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan areas, the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Seventeen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 13 areas registered rates below 5.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in November was 9.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 6.5 percent a year earlier.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 125 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 21 areas a year earlier; while 80 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 255 areas in November 2008. El Centro, Calif., and neighboring Yuma, Ariz., continued to record the highest unemployment rates, 29.2 and 21.1 percent, respectively. Among the 17 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 11 were located in California and 3 were in Michigan. Bismarck, N.D., registered the lowest unemployment rate in November, 3.4 percent, followed by Fargo, N.D.-Minn., and Grand Forks, N.D.-Minn., 3.7 percent each. Overall, 143 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.4, percent and 229 areas reported rates below it. (See table 1 and the map.)
Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich., and Palm Coast, Fla., recorded the largest jobless rate increases from November 2008 (+5.7 percentage points each), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., and Rockford, Ill. (+5.6 points each), and Weirton-Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio (+5.5 points). An additional 10 areas registered rate increases of 5.0 percentage points or more. While no metropolitan area posted an over-the-year unemployment rate decrease, 16 areas reported rate increases of less than a full percentage point.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren- Livonia, Mich., reported the highest unemployment rate in November, 15.4 percent. The large area with the next highest rate was Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.2 percent. Fifteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in November were New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.,
6.1 percent each, and Oklahoma City, Okla., 6.4 percent. All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of a full percentage point or more. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+5.6 percentage points). The next largest rate increases occurred in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+4.7 percentage points), and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+4.5 points).