Metro unemployment eases in September

• By Hibah Yousuf, CNNMoney.com contributing writer
• On 11:16 am EDT, Wednesday October 28, 2009

While the nation's unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high in September, severe unemployment in the nation's metropolitan areas eased in the month, according to government figures released Wednesday.

The Labor Department said 117 of 372 metropolitan areas surveyed unemployment rates of at least 10% last month, down from 129 cities in August. The number of areas with unemployment rates higher than 15% fell to 13 in September from 16 metro areas in August.

The national unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 9.8% in September. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect that national rate to rise to 9.9% when the Labor Department releases its October jobs report Nov. 6.

Overall, 133 cities in the Labor Department report had unemployment rates above the non-seasonally adjusted national figure of 9.5%, while 232 reported jobless rates below it, and 7 areas had the same rate.

Three areas in Michigan posted jobless rates higher than 15%, and Detroit again took the overall top spot among metro areas with 1 million or more people at 17.3%, up from 17% in August.

The city ravaged by the auto industry's collapse also recorded the largest jobless rate increase from September 2008 with 8.4 percentage points, followed by Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich., at 6.8 percentage points.

Among other cities with populations of at least 1 million, California's Inland Empire, including Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario, ranked second to Detroit with an unemployment rate of 14.2% in September.

El Centro, Calif. continued to have the highest unemployment rate of any metropolitan area at 30.1%, down from a revised 33.1% in August.

The second highest rate was in Yuma, Ariz. at 24.2%, a slight drop from 26% in August. Both El Centro and Yuma are cities near agricultural areas where extreme heat impacts the workforce, the Labor Department said.

The metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates in September were all in North Dakota, with Bismarck at 2.9%, followed by Fargo at 3.7% and Grand Forks at 3.8%.

Large cities with the lowest jobless rates were Oklahoma City, at 5.9%, and the Washington, D.C., metro area at 6.2%.

A southern Louisiana metro area that includes Houma, Bayou Cane, and Thibodaux was the only one to experience a year-over-year declining jobless rate because it was impacted by Hurricane Gustav in September 2008.

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