For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, December 30, 2021 USDL-21-2205
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 -- NOVEMBER 2021
Unemployment rates were lower in November than a year earlier in all 389 metropolitan
areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. A total of 139 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 100 metropolitan areas and was
essentially unchanged in 289 areas. The national unemployment rate in November was
3.9 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 6.4 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.
Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, Lincoln, NE, and Logan, UT-ID, had the lowest unemployment rates, 1.1 percent
each. El Centro, CA, had the highest rate, 15.5 percent. A total of 245 areas had November
jobless rates below the U.S. rate of 3.9 percent, 131 areas had rates above it, and 13
areas had rates equal to that of the nation. (See table 1.)
The largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease in November occurred in Kahului-Wailuku-
Lahaina, HI (-9.4 percentage points). Rates fell over the year by at least 4.0 percentage
points in an additional 12 areas.
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 November, 1.4 percent, followed by Oklahoma City,
OK, 1.7 percent. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, and Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV,
had the highest unemployment rates, 6.4 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. All 51 large
areas had over-the-year unemployment rate decreases. The largest jobless rate decline was
in Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI (-5.7 percentage points). The smallest over-the-year rate
decrease occurred in Jacksonville, FL (-0.5 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 November, Nashua, NH-MA,
had the lowest division unemployment rate, 2.1 percent. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA,
had the highest rate among the divisions, 7.1 percent. (See table 2.)
In November, all 38 metropolitan divisions had over-the-year unemployment rate decreases.
Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI, had the largest rate decline (-7.1 percentage points). The
smallest rate decrease occurred in West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL (-0.9
percentage point).
Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 100 metropolitan areas had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment
and 289 were essentially unchanged. The largest over-the-year employment increases occurred
in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+348,200), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
(+344,800), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (+210,200). The largest over-the-year
percentage gains in employment occurred in Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI (+13.7 percent),
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL (+9.5 percent), and Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (+8.5 percent).
(See table 3.)
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 48 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census
population of 1 million or more, while employment was essentially unchanged in 3 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), Austin-Round Rock, TX (+7.8
percent), and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL (+7.7 percent).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
In November, 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 (+279,300), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA (+250,900), and
Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX (+156,300). (See table 4.)
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment occurred in San Francisco-
Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA (+7.1 percent), Camden, NJ (+6.7 percent), and Boston-
Cambridge-Newton, MA (+6.3 percent).
_____________
The State Employment and Unemployment news release for December 2021 is scheduled
to be released on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET). The Metropolitan
Area Employment and Unemployment news release for December 2021 is scheduled to be
released on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
_______________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on November 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. |
| |
| For the November 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-november-2021.htm extensively |
| discusses the impact of a misclassification in the household survey on the national |
| estimates for November 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 November 2021. |
| |
| Household data for substate areas are controlled to the employment and unemployment |
| totals for their respective model-based areas. Hence, the preliminary November and |
| revised October 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. |
|_______________________________________________________________________________________|
_______________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Upcoming Changes to Current Employment Statistics Data |
| |
| Effective with the release of January 2022 estimates, the Current Employment |
| Statistics (CES) program will implement a new generation small area model for state |
| and metropolitan area series. The new model will replace the CES small domain model |
| and variants of the Fay-Herriot model in estimating private sector series with |
| insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimation. More information on the new |
| model is detailed in the paper "Bayesian Nonparametric Joint Model for Point |
| Estimates and Variances" by Julie Gershunskaya and Terrance Savitsky, available on |
| the BLS website at www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2019/st190020.htm. |
|_______________________________________________________________________________________|
United States Department of Labor
