Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 USDL 08-1047
http://www.bls.gov/sae/
Unemployment: (202) 691-6392
http://www.bls.gov/lau/ For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Wednesday, July 30, 2008
METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: JUNE 2008
Unemployment rates were higher in June than a year earlier in 332 of
the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 27 areas, and unchanged in 10 areas,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported
today. Six areas recorded jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, while
four areas registered rates below 3.0 percent. The national unemploy-
ment rate in June was 5.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 4.7
percent a year earlier.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In June, 68 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least
7.0 percent, up from 22 areas a year earlier, while 36 areas posted
rates below 4.0 percent, down from 96 areas in June 2007. El Centro,
Calif., continued to register the highest unemployment rate, 22.6 per-
cent, followed by the adjacent area of Yuma, Ariz., at 17.7 percent.
Sioux Falls, S.D., and Idaho Falls, Idaho, reported the lowest jobless
rates, 2.3 and 2.4 percent, respectively. Overall, 156 areas recorded
unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 5.7 percent, 203 areas had
rates below it, and 10 areas had the same rate.
(See table 1.)
The area reporting the largest jobless rate increase from June 2007 was
El Centro, Calif. (+5.5 percentage points). Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.,
Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., and Longview, Wash., recorded the next largest rate
increases (+2.8 percentage points each). Twenty-three additional areas
registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of 2.0 percentage
points or more, and another 157 areas had increases of 1.0 to 1.9 points.
Jonesboro, Ark., experienced the largest jobless rate decrease from a year
earlier (-0.9 percentage point).
Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million
or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., again recorded the highest unemploy-
ment rate, 9.7 percent in June. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.,
registered the next highest rate, 8.0 percent. The large area with the low-
est jobless rate was Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., at
3.9 percent. Forty-seven large areas posted higher unemployment rates than
in June 2007, and two reported lower rates. Providence-Fall River-Warwick,
R.I.-Mass., had the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase (+2.4 per-
centage points), followed by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., and
Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. (+2.1 and +2.0 points, respectively). Twenty-five
additional large areas had over-the-year unemployment rate increases of
1.0 percentage point or more. No large area had a rate decrease of more than
0.4 percentage point from a year earlier.
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are composed of 34 metropol-
itan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers.
In June, the two divisions that comprise the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., met-
ropolitan area again posted the highest unemployment rates: Detroit-Livonia-
Dearborn, 11.0 percent, and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, 8.8 percent. Bethesda-
Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md., continued to report the lowest jobless rate among
the divisions, 3.3 percent. (See table 2.)
- 2 -
In June, all metropolitan divisions again registered over-the-year unemployment
rate increases. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., experienced the largest
jobless rate increase (+2.2 percentage points). Sixteen other divisions had over-
the-year rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more.
In 6 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges between
the highest and lowest division unemployment rates were 1.0 percentage point or
more in June. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H., experienced the largest rate
difference among its divisions, 3.7 percentage points (Lawrence-Methuen-Salem,
Mass.-N.H., 7.6 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-Mass., 3.9 percent).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were avail-
able in June, 174 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in employ-
ment, 127 reported decreases, and 9 had no change. The largest over-the-year em-
ployment increase was recorded in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+57,800),
followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+54,100), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue,
Wash. (+25,700), and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+25,300).
The largest over-the-year percentage gains in employment were reported in Grand
Junction, Colo. (+4.4 percent), followed by Greenville, N.C., and Pascagoula, Miss.
(+3.9 percent each), Rochester-Dover, N.H.-Maine (+3.6 percent), and Longview,
Texas (+3.2 percent). (See table 3.)
The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (-48,900), followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.
(-34,800), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-25,900), and Riverside-San Bernardino-
Ontario, Calif. (-25,800). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in em-
ployment were reported in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (-5.1 percent), followed by
Flint, Mich. (-4.6 percent), Naples-Marco Island, Fla. (-4.2 percent), Elkhart-
Goshen, Ind., and Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Fla. (-3.6 percent each).
Over-the-year, nonfarm employment rose in 22 of the 38 metropolitan areas with
annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2007. The largest over-the-year
percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in
Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C., and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+2.1
percent each), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, and San Antonio,
Texas (+2.0 percent each), and Austin-Round Rock, Texas (+1.8 percent). Among these
large areas, 15 reported decreases in employment. The largest over-the year percent-
age decreases in employment in these areas were posted by Riverside-San Bernardino-
Ontario, Calif. (-2.0 percent), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (-1.8 percent),
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-1.7 percent), and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
(-1.4 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in June 2008 for 32 metropolitan
divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers within a
metropolitan area. Sixteen of the 32 metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year
employment gains while 14 reported losses. The largest over-the-year increase in the
metropolitan divisions occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+40,900), followed by
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+23,700), New York-White Plains-
Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (+22,700), and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+21,500). The larg-
est over-the-year decrease in the metropolitan divisions occurred in Santa Ana-Anaheim-
Irvine, Calif. (-25,400), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale,Calif. (-23,500),
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-19,100), Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-18,700),
and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-16,100). (See table 4.)
- 3 -
The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the metropolitan
divisions was reported in Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.0 percent), followed by Fort
Worth-Arlington, Texas (+1.9 percent), Tacoma, Wash., and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett,
Wash. (+1.5 percent each). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employ-
ment among the metropolitan divisions was reported in Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.
(-2.4 percent), followed by Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif. (-1.8 percent), Santa Ana-
Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-1.7 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. (-1.3 per-
cent), and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. (-1.2 percent).
_____________________
The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment release for July is scheduled to
be issued on Friday, August 15. The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment re-
lease for July is scheduled to be issued on Wednesday, August 27.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Hurricane Katrina |
| |
| For June, BLS and its state partners continued to make modifications |
|to the usual estimation procedures for the LAUS program to reflect the |
|impact of Hurricane Katrina on the labor force statistics in affected |
|areas. These modifications included: (1) modifying the state popula- |
|tion controls to account for displacement due to Katrina; (2) developing|
|labor force estimates for the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan |
|area using an alternative to the model-based method; and (3) not pub- |
|lishing labor force estimates for the months immediately following the |
|hurricane for the parishes within the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metro-|
|politan area and cities within those parishes, where the quality of in- |
|put data was severely compromised by the hurricane. |
| |
| For more information on LAUS procedures and estimates for June 2008, |
|see Hurricane Information: Katrina and Rita on the BLS Web site at |
|http://www.bls.gov/Katrina/home.htm or call (202) 691-6392. |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Midwest Floods |
| |
| The Midwest floods and the resulting evacuations that occurred in |
|June had no discernable impact on the statewide or metropolitan area |
|employment and unemployment estimates for the month. |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau of Labor Statistics
