Metro Area Unemployment Trends

Highlights

• While the unemployment rate is not yet back to normal in most areas, improvement is unmistakable. Pockets of trouble remain in California and Florida.
• From one year ago, 26 of the 27 metro areas studied have job gains. Of the 27 areas, Houston had the biggest percent growth in payrolls in the last year while only Milwaukee saw a decline of about 200 jobs.
• Among the 27 metro areas reviewed, the Washington, D.C. area had the lowest unemployment rate, below 6 percent in February, while Las Vegas continues to have the highest, at 12.7 percent in February.
• Looking at changes in the last year, 26 large metro areas reviewed saw improvement in the unemployment rate. Among those reviewed, only the New York metro area saw an increase, or worsening, in the unemployment rate in that time period. By comparison, the unemployment rate in the US decreased by 0.8 percentage points in the year.
• Much has been made of changes in the size of the US labor force. A growing labor force means more jobs are needed to hold the unemployment rate steady. From one year ago, the US labor force has grown by 1 percent. In that same time period, 21 metro areas reviewed saw a growth in the size of their labor force, while 6 saw a decline.
• Local unemployment rates are pictured in the graphs below.
• Note that the map below shows the unemployment rate for the U.S. that is unadjusted for seasonal factors in February (8.7 percent). It was much higher than the adjusted rate that month (8.3 percent). National data for March is currently available and shows a narrower gap: 8.2 percent adjusted unemployment rate and 8.4 percent unadjusted unemployment rate.

Next release: May 2, 2012