The rising U.S. unemployment rate is well known
— but what's happening at the metro level shows
just how much parts of the country are suffering.
The Labor Department today released March
unemployment rates for 310 metropolitan areas, and
the picture isn't pretty.
El Centro, Calif., is again at the top of the
list, as unemployment there hit a jaw-dropping 25%
in March. The next highest rates were recorded in
Merced, Calif., and Yuba City, Calif., each with
about 20% unemployment, and beleaguered
manufacturing city Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana, at about
19%. In total, 18 U.S. metro areas now have
unemployment rates of 15% or more.
Along with Elkhart-Goshen, Bend, Oregon, which
has been hit hard by the housing bust, and
furniture-making capital Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown,
N.C., saw the biggest yearly jumps in their
unemployment rates. Among metro areas with a
population of one million or more, Portland,
Charlotte and Detroit had the highest year-over-year
increases in unemployment.
On a brighter note, Iowa City and Houma, La., had
the nation's lowest unemployment rate, just 3.6% as
of March. Ames, Iowa, was close behind with a 3.7%
rate. All three cities are home to major
universities, which has proven a winning strategy so
far in this downturn. Of the larger cities, New
Orleans surprised with the lowest jobless rate,
5.3%, while Oklahoma City was a close second.
The following is a chart of all metro areas,
sortable by area, state, March jobless rate and the
change from 2008.
| Cities
With Jobless Rates of 15% or More |
| Metro
Area |
State |
March
2009 Jobless Rate |
Rise
From March 2008 |
| El
Centro |
CA |
25.1% |
7.5 |
| Merced |
CA |
20.4% |
6.7 |
| Yuba
City |
CA |
19.5% |
6.8 |
| Elkhart-Goshen |
IN |
18.8% |
13 |
| Visalia-Porterville |
CA |
17.7% |
6.1 |
| Modesto |
CA |
17.5% |
6.3 |
| Bend |
OR |
17.0% |
9.2 |
| Fresno |
CA |
17.0% |
6 |
| Redding |
CA |
16.8% |
6.6 |
| Hanford-Corcoran |
CA |
16.7% |
5.4 |
| Stockton |
CA |
16.4% |
6.2 |
| Bakersfield |
CA |
15.9% |
5.2 |
| Salinas |
CA |
15.7% |
5 |
| Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton |
NC |
15.4% |
9.1 |
| Flint |
MI |
15.3% |
4.6 |
| Madera-Chowchilla |
CA |
15.3% |
5 |
| Yuma |
AZ |
15.3% |
5.4 |
| Ocean
City |
NJ |
15.0% |
4.2 |
