Metropolitan Area Employment And Unemployment: November 2007
METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: NOVEMBER 2007
Unemployment rates were higher in November than a year earlier in 175 of
the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 165 areas, and unchanged in 29 areas,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported to-
day. Thirty-four metropolitan areas registered jobless rates below 3.0 percent,
while three areas recorded rates higher than 10.0 percent. The national unem-
ployment rate in November was 4.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted, compared
with 4.3 percent a year earlier.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 137 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 4.0
percent, down from 155 areas a year earlier, while 19 areas posted rates of at
least 7.0 percent, up slightly from 18 areas in November 2006. Idaho Falls,
Idaho, again had the lowest jobless rate, 1.8 percent, followed by Logan, Utah-
Idaho, at 2.0 percent, and Sioux Falls, S.D., at 2.1 percent. Two adjacent,
heavily agricultural areas continued to register the highest rates: El Centro,
Calif., 19.1 percent, and Yuma, Ariz., 12.4 percent. Merced, Calif., had the
next highest rate in November, 10.3 percent. Overall, 203 areas recorded un-
employment rates below the U.S. figure of 4.5 percent, 151 areas had higher
rates, and 15 areas had the same rate. (See table 1 and the map.)
Two Florida areas registered the largest over-the-year unemployment rate
increases in November: Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Punta Gorda (+2.4 percentage
points each). Two California areas--El Centro and Merced--posted the next
largest rate increases (+2.2 percentage points each). Thirty-four additional
areas, nearly two-thirds of which also were located in California or Florida,
recorded jobless rate increases of at least 1.0 percentage point from a year
earlier. Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., an area severely affected by Hurricane Katrina,
continued to report the largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease in November
(-1.9 percentage points). Seven additional areas had over-the-year rate de-
creases of 1.0 percentage point or more.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or
more, Birmingham-Hoover, Ala., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-
W.Va., recorded the lowest unemployment rates in November, 3.0 percent each,
followed by Richmond, Va., and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C., at
3.2 percent each. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., again posted the highest rate
among the large areas, 7.2 percent. Two California areas registered the next
highest jobless rates: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario and Sacramento--Arden-
Arcade--Roseville, 6.0 and 5.6 percent, respectively. Twenty-six of the large
areas recorded higher unemployment rates in November 2007 than in November 2006,
17 registered lower rates, and 6 had no changes. Among the large areas, Las
Vegas-Paradise, Nev., reported the largest jobless rate increase (+1.2 percent-
age points), followed closely by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., and
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (+1.1 points each), and Sacramento--Arden-
Arcade--Roseville, Calif. (+1.0 point). Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.,
had the largest unemployment rate decrease from a year earlier (-0.9 percentage
point). The areas posting the next largest jobless rate decreases were Boston-
Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., and New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. (-0.8 percent-
age point each).
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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 centers.
Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md., reported the lowest division unemployment
rate in November, 2.6 percent. Framingham, Mass., Nashua, N.H.-Mass., and
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., recorded the next lowest
jobless rates, 3.1 percent each. Thirteen additional divisions registered job-
less rates below 4.0 percent. The two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-
Livonia, Mich., metropolitan area continued to post the highest unemployment rates:
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 8.4 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 6.4 percent.
Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., had the next highest rate, 6.0 percent. (See
table 2.)
Nineteen of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment
rate decreases in November, 13 had rate increases, and 2 had no rate changes
from a year earlier. 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 -0.7 point. Seattle-
Bellevue-Everett, Wash., also had a jobless rate decline of -0.7 percentage
point. Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis., posted the largest unemployment
rate increase (+1.1 percentage points), followed closely by Chicago-Naperville-
Joliet, Ill., Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., and West Palm Beach-Boca
Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla. (+1.0 point each).
In 5 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 November. The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., metropolitan area had the
largest rate difference (2.9 percentage points) among its divisions (Lawrence-
Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 6.0 percent, compared with Framingham, Mass., and
Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 3.1 percent each). Within the Detroit-Warren-Livonia,
Mich., metropolitan area, the range between divisions was 2.0 percentage points
(Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, 8.4 percent, compared with Warren-Troy-Farmington
Hills, 6.4 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 304 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in
nonfarm payroll employment,54 reported decreases, and 9 had no change. The
largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in New York-Northern
New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+80,000), followed by Dallas-Fort
Worth-Arlington, Texas (+63,500), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+58,800),
and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (+52,500). The largest over-the-year
percentage gain in employment was reported in Danville, Va. (+7.4 percent),
followed by Billings, Mont. (+6.1 percent), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas,
and Provo-Orem, Utah (+5.2 percent each), and Jacksonville, N.C. (+5.1 percent).
(See table 3.)
The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-
Livonia, Mich. (-33,300), Flint, Mich. (-4,800), Youngstown-Warren-Boardman,
Ohio-Pa. (-2,900), and Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich. (-2,700). The
largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment were reported in Bay
City, Mich. (-4.1 percent), Flint, Mich. (-3.1 percent), Saginaw-Saginaw
Township North, Mich. (-2.9 percent), Merced, Calif. (-2.5 percent), and
Anderson, Ind. (-2.3 percent).
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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (+3.1 percent), Seattle-
Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+2.6 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.4
percent), and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., and Dallas-Fort Worth-
Arlington, Texas (+2.2 percent each). Among the largest areas, only one re-
ported a decrease in employment: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.7 percent).
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Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in November 2007 for 32
metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employ-
ment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-nine of the 32 metropolitan
divisions reported over-the-year employment gains, while 3 reported losses. The
largest over-the-year employment increase in the metropolitan divisions occurred
in New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+61,400), followed by Dallas-Plano-
Irving, Texas (+46,800), Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+38,300), Chicago-
Naperville-Joliet, Ill. (+37,500), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-
Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+33,200). (See table 4.)
The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the metro-
politan divisions was reported in Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.6 percent),
followed by Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.3 percent), Tacoma, Wash. (+2.2 per-
cent), and Camden, N.J., and Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+2.0 percent each).
The three metropolitan divisions reporting over-the-year decreases in employment
were Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-1.9 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills,
Mich. (-1.5 percent), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-0.1 percent).
______________________________
The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment release for December
is scheduled to be issued on Friday, January 18, 2008. The Metropolitan Area
Employment and Unemployment release for December is scheduled to be issued on
Tuesday, January 29, 2008.
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