July 5, 2011 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Metropolitan area unemployment rates, May 2011

Metropolitan area unemployment rate comparisons, May 2011, versus prior year and U.S. unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted
Metropolitan area unemployment rates compared to prior year unemployment rate (May 2010)	Total number of areas ^(p)
Higher	85
Lower	274
Unchanged	13
Metropolitan area unemployment rates compared to U.S. unemployment rate of 8.7 percent (May 2011)	Total number of areas ^(p)
Below	214
Above	149
Equal	9
Footnotes: (p) preliminary

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