Large metropolitan areas and unemployment in June 2009

Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan, reported the highest unemployment rate in June, 17.1 percent.

[Chart data—TXT]

The large areas with the next highest rates were Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, 13.7 percent; Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, North Carolina-South Carolina, 12.4 percent; Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada, 12.3 percent; and Providence-Fall River-Warwick, Rhode Island, 12.1 percent. Eighteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more.

The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in June were Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 6.0 percent; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia, 6.6 percent; and San Antonio, Texas, 6.9 percent.

All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at least 2.0 percentage points. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan, had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+8.1 percentage points). The areas with the next largest rate increase were Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Oregon-Washington (+6.3 percentage points), Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, North Carolina-South Carolina (+6.1 points), and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada (+6.0 points). Four additional large areas recorded rate increases of 5.0 percentage points or more.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. The most recent metropolitan area unemployment rates are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment: June 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-0873.