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The US national unemployment rates in August remained almost unchanged at 3.9 percent from a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has said in a report.
The rates were higher in 189 of the 389 metropolitan areas while it was lower in 186 areas, and unchanged in 14 areas, the report says.
The jobless rates were less than 2 percent in nine areas and five had rates of at least 8 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in 66 metropolitan areas, decreased in 1 area, and was unchanged in 322 areas.
The BLS release said:
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.
In August, Bismarck, ND, had the lowest unemployment rate, 1.5 percent. The next lowest rate was in Fargo, ND-MN, 1.6 percent. El Centro, CA, and Yuma, AZ, had the highest rates, 19.7 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively. A total of 221 areas had August jobless rates below the U.S. rate of 3.9 percent, 151 areas had rates above it, and 17 areas had rates equal to that of the nation.
The largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase in August occurred in Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ (+2.9 percentage points), followed by El Centro, CA (+2.7 points). Thirty other areas had rate increases of at least 1.0 percentage point. Kokomo, IN, had the largest over-the-year rate decrease in August (-2.1 percentage points), while 42 other areas had rate declines of at least 1.0 point.
Of the 51 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, Baltimore-Columbia-
Towson, MD, had the lowest jobless rate in August, 1.8 percent. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV, had the highest rate, 6.1 percent. Twenty-seven large areas had over-the-year unemployment rate increases, 23 had decreases, and 1 had no change. The largest rate increase was in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (+1.2 percentage points). The largest jobless rate decline occurred in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD (-1.7 percentage points).
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 38 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In August, Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD, had the lowest division unemployment rate, 1.6 percent. Elgin, IL, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA, had the highest rates among the divisions, 5.8 percent each.
In August, 18 metropolitan divisions had over-the-year unemployment rate increases, 18 had decreases, and 2 had no change. The largest rate increase occurred in Newark, NJ-PA (+2.0 percentage points). The largest over-the-year jobless rate decline occurred in Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD (-1.5 percentage points).
In August, nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in 66 metropolitan areas, decreased in 1 area, and was essentially unchanged in 322 areas. The largest over-the-year employment increases occurred in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+208,200), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (+154,800), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (+142,400). The largest over-the-year percentage gains in employment occurred in Midland, TX (+5.3 percent), and Huntsville, AL (+4.6 percent), followed by Ann Arbor, MI, Charleston-North Charleston, SC, Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV, and Trenton, NJ (+4.5 percent each).
The over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Elkhart-Goshen, IN (-5,200, or -3.5 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 32 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, while employment was essentially unchanged in 19 areas. The largest over-the-year
percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas occurred in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (+4.5 percent), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (+3.8 percent), and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC (+3.7 percent).
In August, nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in 15 metropolitan divisions and was essentially unchanged in 23 divisions. The largest over-the-year increases in employment among the metropolitan divisions occurred in New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ (+174,400), Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX (+112,700), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA (+99,700). (See table 4.)
The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment occurred in Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX (+3.8 percent), Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (+3.6 percent), and Philadelphia, PA (+3.5 percent).
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