America’s metropolitan and nonfarm areas showed a significant increase in employment in April – a 1.1% overall growth from a year earlier.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), unemployment rates were lower in April than a year previous in 357 of the 372 metropolitan areas. Seasonally adjusted, April’s national jobless rate was 6.3 percent, its lowest mark since 2008.
Of the 49 metro areas with a Census 2000 population of one million people or more, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma had the lowest jobless rates among the large areas (3.8% each). Midland, Texas had the lowest unemployment rate for any metropolitan area at 2.3 percent.
Among metro divisions, the largest job increases occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California (91,300 added), followed by Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (89,600) and New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. (73,600 jobs).
Nonfarm payroll employment rose in 302 metro areas, with the biggest growths in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California (118,200 added), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (115,900), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y., N.J., Pa. (94,300) and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California (91,300). The largest yearly percentage gain in employment occurred in Ocean City, N.J., a 7.5 percent increase.
Other areas that received employment boosts were Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida (4.5% gain), San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (4%), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (3.8%), Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida (3.5%) and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada and Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, South Carolina (each at a 3% increase).
However, some places were not as fortunate.
Yuma, Arizona and El Centro, California had the highest unemployment rates in April, 23.8% and 21.6%, respectively.
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Michigan and Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Mass.-N.H. had the highest jobless rates (8.9%) among metro divisions. Additionally, the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn sector lost more than 11,000 jobs from the previous year.
Of the 49 metro areas with a population of one million people or more, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California had the highest unemployment rate in April at 8.3 percent, followed by Detroit-Warren-Livonia (7.9%), Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Illinois (7.3%) and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia (6.5%).
Other areas hit hard by unemployment include: Albuquerque, New Mexico (4,500 less jobs), Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey (minus 3,700), Bloomington-Normal, Illinois (-2,600) and Warner Robins, Georgia (-1,800).
