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The
largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease in December was posted in
Vero Beach, Fla. (-2.9 percentage points), which had been affected by
hurricanes in 2004.
The next largest unemployment rate declines were
reported in
El Centro, Calif. (-2.7 percentage points),
and Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas, Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala., and Gadsden, Ala.(-2.5 points each).
Nine other areas had rate decreases of at least 2.0
percentage points, and 84 additional areas registered declines of at
least 1.0 point. Overall, 170 of the 273 areas with over-the-year rate
declines had decreases that exceeded the 0.5-percentage point drop in the
national rate. The largest unemployment rate increases from last December
were recorded in three areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita
Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (+16.1 percentage points),
Pascagoula, Miss.
(+8.4 points),
and New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. (+3.8 points).
Nine
additional areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at
least 1.0 percentage point.
In
the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or
more:
The lowest December jobless rates were reported in
Orlando, Fla.,
2.8%,
and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.,
and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md. W.Va., 2.9% each.
The highest
rates among these large areas were recorded in
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner,
La., 8.2%,
and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., 6.8%.
Thirty-
seven large areas reported lower unemployment rates than in December 2004, 11
registered higher rates, and 1 had no change.
The largest over-the-year
rate decreases were posted in
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala., and Miami-Fort
Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla. (-1.6 percentage points each).
Six additional
large areas- three of which were in Florida--registered jobless rate declines of
at least 1.0 percentage point.
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., again
recorded the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase (+3.8 percentage
points).
The next largest rate increases were reported in Louisville,
Ky.-Ind. (+1.4 percentage points),
and Providence-Fall River-Warwick, R.I.-Mass. (+0.6 point).
Metropolitan Division Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Eleven of the most populous metropolitan areas are composed of 34 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment
centers.
The lowest division unemployment rates in December were posted in:
Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md., 2.6%,
and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla., 2.9%.
Seven additional divisions
registered rates below 4.0 percent. The highest unemployment rates among the
divisions continued to be reported in:
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.,7.9%,
and Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.2%.
Twenty of the 34 metropolitan divisions recorded over-the-year unemployment rate decreases in December, 11 had rate increases, and 3 had rates that
were unchanged from those of December 2004.
The largest jobless rate
declines were registered in the three divisions that compose the
Miami-Fort
Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla., metropolitan area--Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall
(-1.8 percentage points),
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach
(-1.5 points),
and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach
(-1.4 points).
The next largest rate decreases were posted in
Tacoma, Wash.
(-1.2 percentage points),
and Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (-1.0 point).
No
division reported a rate increase from a year earlier greater than 0.5 percentage point.
In
5 of the 11 metropolitan areas that contain divisions, the ranges
between the highest and lowest division unemployment rates were 1.0 percent-age
point or more in December. The metropolitan areas that had the widest
rate ranges between their divisions were Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H.
(Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H., 7.2 percent, compared with Nashua, N.H.-
Mass., 3.6 percent), and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (Detroit-Livonia-Dear-
born, 7.9 percent, compared with Warren-Farmington Hills-Troy, 5.9 percent).
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Metropolitan Area Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted) In
December 2005, 311 metropolitan areas recorded over-the-year
increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 49 reported decreases, and 7 had no
change.
The largest over-the-year employment gains were posted in:
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (+83,200),
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria,
D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+81,600),
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.
(+69,200),
and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.
(+64,300).
The largest percentage increases in employment were reported in
Coeur d`Alene, Idaho, and Yuba City, Calif. (+8.2%),
followed by
El Centro, Calif. (+7.9%),
and St. George, Utah (+7.8%).
Large over-the-year decreases in employment in
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. (-198,100),
and Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (-26,500),
reflect the
impact of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast in late August.
The
largest over-the-year percentage declines in employment were reported in
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. (-31.8%),
Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss.
(-23.3%),
Danville, Va. (-4.5%),
and Holland-Grand Haven,Mich. (-3.7%).
Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 32 of the 35 metropolitan
areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2004.
The
largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large
metropolitan areas occurred in
Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (+7.0%),
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (+4.8%),
Orlando, Fla. (+4.2%),
and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+3.3%).
Among the
largest areas, the only over-the-year percentage decreases in employment
were recorded in:
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-0.6%),
and Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Ind. (-0.1%).
Metropolitan Division Nonfarm Employment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Nonfarm payroll employment data were available in December 2005 for 32
metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable
employment centers within a metropolitan area. Twenty-nine of the 32
metropolitan divisions reported over-the-year employment increases, while 3
reported decreases.
The largest over-the-year increase in the metropolitan divisions occurred in:
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+70,200),
followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.
(+49,500),
New York-Wayne-White Plains, N.Y.-N.J. (+48,100),
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+46,100),
and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.
(+40,800).
Over-the-year employment losses were recorded in:
Newark-Union,
N.J.-Pa. (-7,500),
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-7,000),
and Warren-Farmington Hills-Troy, Mich. (-6,300).
The
largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the
metropolitan divisions were reported in:
Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. (+4.0%),
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+3.4%),
Tacoma, Wash.
(+3.0%)
and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-VA-MD.-W.Va. (+3.0%),
and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach,FL. (+2.5%).
Over-the-year percentage decreases in employment among the
divisions were reported for:
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-0.8%),
Newark-Union, N.J.-PA. (-0.7%),
and Warren-Farmington Hills-Troy,
Mich. (-0.5%).
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