Most Metros Lost Jobs Last 12 Months
The majority of metropolitan areas across America lost workers and experienced increases in unemployment during the last year.
Of the 372 metropolitan areas the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps records of, 291 had higher unemployment rates this April than last, while 73 had lower rates and eight were unchanged. Overall, 14 areas had an unemployment rate of at least 15 percent, while eight had rates below 5 percent.
During April, 128 metro areas had an unemployment rate of at least 10 percent, which is up from 91 areas during last year. At the same time, 67 areas had rates below 7 percent, which is a decrease from 113 during April 2009.
Unfortunately for those seeking Las Vegas job openings, the Las Vegas-Paradise, area saw the biggest increase in unemployment during the 12-month period at 3.7 percent, followed by Farmington, N.M. at 3.6 percent; Yuba City, Calif., at 3.4 percent; Rockford, Ill. at 3.3 percent; and Yuma, Ariz., at 3.1 percent.
Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., experienced the largest decrease in unemployment between April 2009 and April 2010, as the area's rate dropped 4.8 percent. Only 11 other areas saw decreases of at least 1 percent, while none were higher than 1.9 percent.
When it comes to actual employment numbers, 300 metro areas saw an over-the-year decrease during April, while 64 experienced increases and eight were unchanged. Bad news for those seeking Los Angeles County jobs - the biggest yearly decrease in employment took place in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area, which lost 111,200 jobs.
That was followed by Chicago-Joliet-Naperville losing 101,400 jobs, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island losing 91,200 jobs, Detroit-Warren-Livonia losing 67,000 jobs and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont losing 66,300 jobs.
The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area saw the biggest yearly increase in employment, adding 5,800 jobs during the 12-month period. That was followed by Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash., adding 3,900 jobs; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission adding 3,000 Texas jobs; Ocean City, N.J., adding 2,900 jobs; and Elkhart-Goshen adding 2,800 jobs.