The .gov means it's official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information,
make sure you're on a federal government site.
The site is secure. The
https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any
information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.
Unemployment rates fall in most metropolitan areas, for the year ending in January 2015
March 25, 2015
Unemployment rates were lower in January 2015 than a year earlier in 339 of the 387 metropolitan areas, higher in 38 areas, and unchanged in 10 areas. Decatur, Illinois, had the largest over-the-year unemployment rate decrease; the rate fell 3.4 percentage points, from 11.4 percent in January 2014 to 8.0 percent in January 2015.
Three other areas had rate decreases of more than 3.0 percentage points. Rockford and Danville, Illinois, had unemployment rates of 11.0 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively, in January 2014. In January 2015, the unemployment rate in both areas was 7.8 percent. In Yuma, Arizona, the unemployment rate declined 3.1 percentage points, from 22.9 percent to 19.8 percent over the 12 months ending in January. Sixteen other areas had rate decreases of at least 2.0 percentage points.
Of the 51 metro areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, the unemployment rate declined over the year in 47 areas. The largest decrease occurred in Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island-Massachusetts, 2.1 percentage points.
Alexandria, Louisiana, had the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase, 1.4 percentage points. The unemployment rate increased by 1.0 percentage point or more in seven Louisiana metro areas.
These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — January 2015" (HTML) (PDF).
United States Department of Labor
