An official website of the United States government
From December 2016 to December 2017, among the 51 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, 44 had unemployment rate decreases, 6 had increases, and 1 had no change. The largest unemployment rate decrease occurred in Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama (−2.4 percentage points) and Memphis, TN-MS-AR (−1.6 percentage points). The largest over-the-year rate increase was in Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York (0.4 percentage point).
Metropolitan area | Change in unemployment rate(p) | December 2016 | December 2017(p) |
---|---|---|---|
Birmingham-Hoover, AL |
-2.4 percentage point(s) | 5.5% | 3.1% |
Memphis, TN-MS-AR |
-1.6 | 5.3% | 3.7% |
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN |
-1.4 | 3.8% | 2.4% |
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI |
-1.2 | 3.9% | 2.7% |
Jacksonville, FL |
-1.1 | 4.5% | 3.4% |
New Orleans-Metairie, LA |
-1.1 | 4.8% | 3.7% |
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL |
-1.1 | 4.5% | 3.4% |
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX |
-1.0 | 5.3% | 4.3% |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL |
-1.0 | 4.9% | 3.9% |
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL |
-1.0 | 4.3% | 3.3% |
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA |
-1.0 | 5.1% | 4.1% |
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA |
-1.0 | 4.8% | 3.8% |
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA |
-0.9 | 5.0% | 4.1% |
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI |
-0.8 | 5.5% | 4.7% |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN |
-0.8 | 3.6% | 2.8% |
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA |
-0.8 | 4.1% | 3.3% |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI |
-0.7 | 3.6% | 2.9% |
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA |
-0.7 | 3.4% | 2.7% |
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA |
-0.7 | 3.4% | 2.7% |
Salt Lake City, UT |
0.0 | 2.7% | 2.7% |
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT |
0.1 | 3.9% | 4.0% |
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
0.1 | 4.0% | 4.1% |
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH NECTA |
0.3 | 2.5% | 2.8% |
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO |
0.3 | 2.6% | 2.9% |
Rochester, NY |
0.3 | 4.7% | 5.0% |
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY |
0.4 | 5.1% | 5.5% |
Footnotes:
(p) = preliminary. |
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee, had the lowest unemployment rate in December (2.4 percent). Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York, had the highest jobless rate at 5.5 percent.
These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. More charts and maps are available in the metropolitan area chart package. See "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — December 2017" (HTML) (PDF) to learn more.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Birmingham-Hoover metro had largest unemployment rate decrease for year ended December 2017 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/birmingham-hoover-metro-had-largest-unemployment-rate-decrease-for-year-ended-december-2017.htm (visited October 31, 2024).