In December, 257 metropolitan areas recorded lower unemployment rates than a year earlier, 57 areas had higher rates, and 17 areas had rates that were unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Twenty-six metropolitan areas registered jobless rates below 3.0 percent, with 16 of these located in the South. Ten metropolitan areas posted jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent; seven of these were located in California and two were along the Mexican border in other states. The national unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in December, not seasonally adjusted.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Unemployment rates below 4.0 percent were recorded in 106 metropolitan areas in December, up from 73 areas a year earlier, while rates of at least 7.0 percent were registered in 34 areas, down from 50 areas in December 2003. As it did in nearly every month of 2004, Bryan-College Station, Texas, posted the lowest unemployment rate, 1.8 percent in December. The next lowest rates were reported in Charlottesville, Va., 1.9 percent, Gainesville, Fla., 2.0 percent, and Madison, Wis., 2.1 percent. All four of these areas are home to major state universities. Yuma, Ariz., an agricultural area, again posted the highest unemployment rate, 15.3 percent. The next highest rates were recorded in six other agricultural areas, all located in California: Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, 14.8 percent; Merced and Yuba City, 13.8 percent each; Salinas, 12.9 percent; Fresno, 12.2 percent; and Bakersfield, 11.9 percent.In December, New Bedford, Mass., recorded the largest unemployment rate decrease from a year earlier (-2.0 percentage points). Four other areas each reported decreases of 1.9 percentage points--Danville, Va., Jersey City, N.J., McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, and San Jose, Calif. Sixty-three additional areas had over-the-year rate decreases of a full percentage point or more. Sumter, S.C., again registered the largest jobless rate increase from a year ago (+2.4 percentage points). The next largest rate increases were reported in three Pennsylvania areas--Altoona (+1.8 percentage points), Johnstown (+1.6 points), and Williamsport (+1.4 points). Seven additional areas had over-the-year increases of at least one percentage point.
Of the 51 metropolitan areas with a 1990 census population of 1 million or more, 44 areas reported lower jobless rates than in December 2003, 5 posted higher rates, and 2 had rates that were unchanged. Orange County,Calif., and Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va., continued to record the lowest unemployment rates among the large areas, 2.7 and 2.9 percent, respectively. The next lowest jobless rates were registered in Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, N.J., 3.0 percent, and Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz., and San Diego, Calif., 3.2 percent each. Detroit, Mich., had the highest rate among the large areas, 6.9 percent, followed by Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio, Memphis, Tenn.-Ark.-Miss., and Portland-Vancouver, Ore.-Wash., 6.1 percent each, and Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y., 6.0 percent. The next highest rates were in the three most populous metropolitan areas, Chicago, Ill., Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif., and New York, N.Y., 5.7 percent each. San Jose, Calif., reported the largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease (-1.9 percentage points), followed by New York, N.Y., and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (-1.6 points each), and two areas in New Jersey--Bergen-Passaic and Newark (-1.4 points each). Ten additional areas had over-the-year rate decreases of a full percentage point or more. Pittsburgh, Pa., posted the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+0.5 percentage point) among these areas.
