Unemployment in large metropolitan areas, September 2009

Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan, reported the highest unemployment rate in September, 17.3 percent. The large area with the lowest rate was Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

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The large areas with the next highest rates were Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, 14.2 percent, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada, 13.9 percent. Sixteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more.

The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in September were Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 5.9 percent; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia, 6.2 percent; and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia-North Carolina, 6.7 percent.

All 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at least 1.6 percentage points. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+8.4 percentage points). The next largest rate increase occurred in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (+6.2 percentage points). Five other large areas recorded over-the-year rate increases of 5.0 percentage points or more.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. The most recent metropolitan area unemployment rates are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment: September 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-1301.