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Two-Thirds of Metropolitan Areas Report Higher Unemployment Rates in February
By Prathapan Bhaskaran - Apr 09, 2025, 02:08 PM ET
Last Updated - Apr 09, 2025, 02:53 PM EDT
Only 97 of the 387 metro regions showed lower jobless rates while 35 remained unchanged
Unemployment rates edged higher in 255, or 66%, of 387 metropolitan areas in the U.S. in February, ahead of Elon Musk-led Federal employees’ mass layoffs. Jobless rate declined in 97 areas, and it remained unchanged in 35 areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
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Musk-led DOGE has taken the machette to almost all federal departments axing workers the effect of which on unemployment numbers will begin to be felt soon.
A total of 12 areas had jobless rates of at least 8% while 15 areas less had unemployment rates of less than 3%. Year over year, nonfarm payroll employment rose in 21 metropolitan areas, decreased in 1 area, and was unchanged in 365 areas. The national unemployment rate in February was 4.5%, not seasonally adjusted, up from 4.2% a year earlier.
Over-the-year unemployment rate increase
In February, Rapid City, SD, and Sioux Falls, SD-MN, had the lowest unemployment rates, 2.1% each. El Centro, CA, had the highest rate at 17.2%. A total of 235 areas had February jobless rates below the U.S. rate of 4.5%, 142 areas had rates above it, and 10 had rates equal to the national rate.
The largest over-the-year unemployment rate increases in February was in Asheville, NC (+2.4 percentage points), and Monroe, MI (+2.3 points). The report said 33 other areas had rate increases of at least 1 percentage point. Kahului-Wailuku, HI, had the largest over-the-year rate decrease in February (-1.9 percentage points). Two other areas had rate declines of at least 1 percentage point.
Of the 56 metropolitan areas with a 2020 Census population of 1 million or more, Urban Honolulu, HI, had the lowest jobless rate in February, 2.7%. Fresno, CA, had the highest rate, 8.9%, the report said.
Read full BLS press release here
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