For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, December 2, 2021 USDL-21-2074
Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 * sminfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/sae
Unemployment: (202) 691-6392 * lausinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/lau
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- OCTOBER 2021
Unemployment rates were lower in October than a year earlier in 386 of the 389 metropolitan
areas, higher in 1 area, and unchanged in 2 areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. A total of 110 areas had jobless rates of less than 3.0 percent and 2
areas had rates of at least 10.0 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment increased over the
year in 96 metropolitan areas and was essentially unchanged in 293 areas. The national
unemployment rate in October was 4.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 6.6
percent a year earlier.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly programs. The civilian labor force
and unemployment data are based on the same concepts and definitions as those used for the
national household survey estimates. These data pertain to individuals by where they
reside. The employment data are from an establishment survey that measures nonfarm
employment, hours, and earnings by industry. These data pertain to jobs on payrolls
defined by where the establishments are located. For more information about the concepts
and statistical methodologies used by these two programs, see the Technical Note.
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| |
| Revisions to Unemployment Data for September 2021 |
| |
| Due to the implementation of an improvement in a prior outlier treatment, model-based |
| unemployment levels and rates for the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, |
| and Wisconsin were subject to larger than typical revisions for September 2021. Data |
| for non-modeled metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions were affected in |
| proportion to the effects on their model-based control areas. See |
| www.bls.gov/lau/launews1.htm for additional information. |
|_______________________________________________________________________________________|
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In October, Logan, UT-ID, and Provo-Orem, UT, had the lowest unemployment rates, 1.1
percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. El Centro, CA, had the highest rate, 17.7 percent.
A total of 252 areas had October jobless rates below the U.S. rate of 4.3 percent, 127
areas had rates above it, and 10 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
(See table 1.)
The largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease in October occurred in Kahului-
Wailuku-Lahaina, HI (-14.6 percentage points). Rates fell over the year by at least 5.0
percentage points in an additional six areas. The only unemployment rate increase was in
Springfield, OH (+0.4 percentage point).
Of the 51 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, Salt Lake
City, UT, had the lowest jobless rate in October, 1.4 percent, followed by Oklahoma City,
OK, 1.9 percent. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, had the highest unemployment rate,
7.1 percent. All 51 large areas had over-the-year unemployment rate decreases. The largest
jobless rate decline was in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (-7.1 percentage points). The
smallest over-the-year rate decrease occurred in Jacksonville, FL (-0.6 percentage point).
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 38 metropolitan divisions,
which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In October, Nashua,
NH-MA, had the lowest division unemployment rate, 2.4 percent. Los Angeles-Long Beach-
Glendale, CA, had the highest rate among the divisions, 7.8 percent. (See table 2.)
In October, all 38 metropolitan divisions had over-the-year unemployment rate decreases.
Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI, had the largest rate decline (-6.5 percentage points). The
smallest rate decrease occurred in Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ (-0.8 percentage point).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In October, 96 metropolitan areas had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll
employment and 293 were essentially unchanged. The largest over-the-year employment
increases occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (+326,400), New York-Newark-Jersey
City, NY-NJ-PA (+302,600), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (+176,300). The largest
over-the-year percentage gains in employment occurred in Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI (+17.2
percent), Urban Honolulu, HI (+10.5 percent), and Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL (+10.3 percent).
(See table 3.)
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 47 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census
population of 1 million or more, while employment was essentially unchanged in 4 areas. The
largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas
occurred in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (+8.5 percent), and Austin-Round Rock, TX, and
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL (+7.0 percent each).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In October, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 26 metropolitan divisions and was
essentially unchanged in 12 divisions over the year. The largest over-the-year increase in
employment among the metropolitan divisions occurred in New York-Jersey City-White Plains,
NY-NJ (+247,300), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA (+227,500), and Dallas-
Plano-Irving, TX (+135,200). (See table 4.)
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment occurred in San Francisco-
Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA (+6.6 percent), Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA (+6.5
percent), and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL (+6.2 percent).
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The State Employment and Unemployment news release for November is scheduled to be released
on Friday, December 17, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. (ET). The Metropolitan Area Employment and
Unemployment news release for November is scheduled to be released on Thursday, December
30, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
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| |
| Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on October 2021 |
| Establishment and Household Survey Data |
| |
| Data collection for both surveys was affected by the pandemic. In the establishment |
| survey, more data continued to be collected by web than in months prior to the |
| pandemic. In the household survey, for the safety of both interviewers and |
| respondents, in-person interviews were conducted only when telephone interviews could |
| not be done. |
| |
| To reflect the net effect of the contribution of business births (openings) and |
| deaths (closings) to the establishment survey estimates, BLS uses a model to account |
| for the relatively stable net employment change generated by business births and |
| deaths. Beginning with data for March 2020, BLS introduced special adjustments to its |
| birth-death model to better reflect the net contribution of births and deaths during |
| the pandemic. BLS has determined that these adjustments are no longer necessary. |
| Therefore, beginning with data for October 2021, BLS reverted back to the methodology |
| used prior to the onset of the pandemic. More information about changes to the |
| establishment survey's birth-death model is available at |
| www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbdqa.htm#qa9. |
| |
| For the October 2021 estimates of household employment and unemployment from the |
| Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, BLS continued to implement level- |
| shift outliers in the employment and/or unemployment inputs to the state models, |
| based on statistical evaluation of movements in each area's inputs. These level |
| shifts preserved movements in the published estimates that the models otherwise would |
| have discounted, without requiring changes to how the models create estimates at |
| other points in the time series. |
| |
| The "Frequently asked questions" document at |
| www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-october-2021.htm extensively |
| discusses the impact of a misclassification in the household survey on the national |
| estimates for October 2021. Despite the considerable decline in its degree relative |
| to prior months, this misclassification continued to be widespread geographically, |
| which in turn affected the official LAUS estimates for October 2021. |
| |
| Household data for substate areas are controlled to the employment and unemployment |
| totals for their respective model-based areas. Hence, the preliminary October and |
| revised September estimates for substate areas reflect the use of level-shift |
| outliers, where implemented, in the inputs for their model-based control areas. The |
| substate area estimates also were impacted by misclassification in the household |
| survey, in proportion to the impacts of the misclassifications on the data for their |
| model-based control areas. |
| |
| Household data for Puerto Rico are not modeled, but rather are derived from a monthly |
| household survey similar to the Current Population Survey. The Puerto Rico Department |
| of Labor has reported a misclassification in its household survey similar in nature |
| to the misclassification in the Current Population Survey, which has affected the |
| local area data proportionally. |
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United States Department of Labor
