Unemployment rates in most of the country’s 372 metropolitan areas were down in November when compared with data from just one year prior, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In its November 2014 report, the agency noted improvements on the employment front on the national level, as well, with a national unemployment rate of 5.5%, not seasonally adjusted, which was down from 6.6% one year prior.
The bureau’s monthly report pulls in labor force and unemployment data from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program for a total of 372 metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan New England City and Town Areas along with eight areas in Puerto Rico. Nonfarm payroll employment estimates are drawn from the Current Employment Statistics program.
November’s report showed that unemployment rates were lower year-over-year in a total of 341 of the 372 metropolitan areas analyzed each month. Those rates, however, climbed in 27 areas and remained unchanged in four.
Twelve analysis areas had unemployment rates of at least 10% while 147 areas logged rates of less than 5%. Nonfarm payroll figures also climbed in 313 metropolitan areas over the year. There was a decrease in 55 areas while four areas remained the same.
On the metropolitan level, El Centro, Calif. and Yuma, Ariz., recorded the highest unemployment rates in November 2012 with 23.1% and 22.6% respectively. Fargo, N.D.-Minn., and Mankato-North Mankato, Minn., logged the lowest unemployment rates with 2.2% each.
Two hundred areas in total recorded unemployment rates that were under the U.S. national figure of 5.5% in November. Some 158 areas had unemployment rates higher than the national average while 14 areas were equal.
On the regional and state level, November’s numbers changed little from October’s findings, the bureau reported. While 41 states and the District of Columbia reported decreases from October, three states saw increases and six logged no change.
Despite the gains in some states, the national jobless rate of 5.5% in November was mostly unchanged from October’s 5.8%. Over the year, however, the bureau reported that 34 states and the District of Columbia witnessed “significant changes in employment, all of which were positive.”
The biggest job increase was recorded in Texas, which added some 441,200 jobs, followed by California with 344,100 and Florida with 229,900.
Job gains continued in many areas in November, as well. The bureau reported that 20 states and the District of Columbia logged significant month-over-moth increases while only two states had decreases. The biggest gains in jobs in November came from California, which added 90,100, and Florida with 41,900.
