• Home
  • Mail
  • Flickr
  • Tumblr
  • News
  • Sports
  • Finance
  • Celebrity
  • Answers
  • Groups
  • Mobile
  • More
  • FirefoxTry Yahoo Finance on Firefox »
Yahoo
    • Sign in
    • Mail
    Finance Home
    • Originals
    • Events
    • Personal Finance
    • Technology
    • Markets
    • Industries
    • My Screeners
    U.S. Markets open in 5 hrs 55 mins
    • S&P 500
      2,269.00
      -1.75 (-0.08%)

    • Dow 30
      19,899.29
      -42.87 (-0.21%)

    More Cities Seeing at Least 15% Unemployment

    Kelly Evans
    The Wall Street JournalApril 29, 2009
    More from WSJ.com:

    • 12 Reasons to Be Economically Optimistic

    • Blacks Hit Hardest by Fall in Home Ownership

    • How Swine Flu Could Hurt the Economy





    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.

    More from Yahoo! Finance:

    • Fortune 500, 2009 Edition

    • Fortune 100 Companies That Are Hiring Right Now

    • Innocent Moves That Can Botch a Job Interview

    Visit the Career Center






    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
    Recently Viewed
    Your list is empty.

    What to Read Next

    • Is your Sears or Macy's closing? Here's a look at the stores that will go dark

      CNBC
    • Sears is closing 150 stores — here's the full list

      Business Insider
    • Here's what Goldman Sachs told its millionaire clients about 2017

      Yahoo Finance
    • Aon Hewitt's Datta: China Outflow Problem May Worsen

      Bloomberg Video
    • Breast-pumping moms can now go wireless

      Yahoo Finance
    • These 5 historic properties are on sale for less than $250,000

      Yahoo Finance
    • Self-made millionaire: Forget skipping Starbucks. Here are 5 real ways to get rich

      CNBC
    • Don't carry these 5 things in your wallet

      Yahoo Finance
    • LaSalle's Mokrane: Why I'm Positive on EU Real Estate

      Bloomberg Video
    • JOBS ON DECK — What you need to know in markets on Friday

      Yahoo Finance
    • Reaction: US intelligence chiefs say Russia poses a major threat

      CNBC
    • A self-made millionaire explains how a 'painful' money mistake he made in college led him to the investment strategy that made him rich

      Business Insider
    • Scientists might be seriously underestimating the risk of a major freeze in Europe

      Business Insider
    • Flint Global on Brexit: Things Are Getting Very Real

      Bloomberg Video
    • CES 2017 Wrap-up: Day 2

      JP Mangalindan
    • The big thing in TV sets this year is ... big TV sets

      Associated Press

    Trump calls for bipartisan unity on health care — after calling Schumer ‘head clown’

    Vulture Capitalist: Waaiiiitttt a minute! I thought they Republicans said they already have a plan? It's, great, it's cheap, and has zero deductibles. I say the Dems should just tell Trump to just go ahead and proceed with his party's plan.

    Join the Conversation
    1 / 5

    4.3k

    • The world's first 3-screen gaming laptop is mind-blowing

      Yahoo Finance
    • Everybody’s getting Trump’s infrastructure plan wrong

      Yahoo Finance
    • Johnny’s tea-themed pop-up shop

      CNBC Videos
    • 5 ways your personal finances will change in 2017

      Yahoo Finance
    • This Republican congresswoman's Twitter poll on Obamacare didn't go very well for her

      CNBC
    • The death of malls is going to reshape the teen experience in America

      Yahoo Finance
    • Self-made millionaire: The 'one, proven, easy way to get rich'

      CNBC
    • Music streaming service, 'Gaana' garners over 50M downloa...

      CNBC Videos
    • Stocks slip as traders seek safety, dollar slides

      Yahoo Finance
    • Coca-Cola is being sued for misleading people over the healthfulness of its sodas

      Quartz
    • Here’s how to figure out your full retirement age

      Yahoo Finance
    • Data Disclaimer
    • Help
    • Suggestions