Unemployment Rates Rose in 218 of the 389 Metropolitan Areas

via Mike Shedlock

The BLS metro report released today. Unemployment rates were up in 218 of 389 metro areas. Nonfarm employment only rose in 59 areas.

Please consider the BLS Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report for January 2024.

Unemployment Rate Key Details

• Unemployment rates were higher in January than a year earlier in 218 of the 389 metropolitan areas, lower in 148 areas, and unchanged in 23 areas.
• A total of 62 areas had jobless rates of less than 3.0 percent and 13 areas had rates of at least 8.0 percent.
• Nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in 59 metropolitan areas, decreased in 3 areas, and was essentially unchanged in 327 areas.
• The national unemployment rate in January was 4.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted, little changed from a year earlier.
• Of the 51 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, had the lowest jobless rate in January, 2.4 percent.
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, had the highest rates, 5.5 percent each.
• Thirty-three large areas had over-the-year unemployment rate increases, 11 had decreases, and 7 had no change.

Nonfarm Payrolls Key Details

• In January, nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in 59 metropolitan areas, decreased in 3 areas, and was essentially unchanged in 327 areas.
• The largest over-the-year employment increases occurred in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+160,100), Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX (+83,300), and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL (+78,900).
• The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment occurred in Madera, CA (+6.6 percent), followed by Ithaca, NY, and Yuba City, CA (+6.2 percent each).
• The over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA (-23,600, or -1.9 percent), Memphis, TN-MS-AR (-12,600, or -1.9 percent), and Kahului Wailuku-Lahaina, HI (-5,400, or -7.1 percent).

Top 12 High Unemployment Rate States

1. California: 5.7
2. Washington: 5.4
3. Nevada 5.2
4. Alaska: 5.2
5. D.C.: 5.2
6. New Jersey: 5.2
7. Illinois: 5.1
8. Connecticut: 5.0
9. Oregon: 4.9
10. Kentucky: 4.8
11. West Virginia: 4.7
12. Rhode Island: 4.6

Top 12 Low Unemployment Rate States

1. South Dakota: 2.2
2. North Dakota: 2.5
3. New Hampshire: 2.6
4. Nebraska: 2.7
5. Vermont: 2.7
6. Virginia: 2.7
7. Kansas: 2.8
8. Maryland: 2.8
9. Wisconsin: 2.8
10. Utah: 3.0
11. Florida, Georgia, Hawaii: 3.1

Jobs Up 275,000 with 52,000 More Government Jobs, Employment Down 184,000

Payrolls vs Employment Gains Since March 2022

• Nonfarm Payrolls: 6,438,000
• Employment Level: +2,797,000
• Full Time Employment: +439,000

In the last 23 months, the economy added 6.4 million jobs, but full time employment only rose by 439,000.

For more discussion of the latest employment report, please see my detailed report Jobs with seven charts: Jobs Up 275,000 with 52,000 More Government Jobs, Employment Down 184,000

2024 is starting where 2023 ended. Job growth is soaring, but employment isn’t. Second, the number of jobs needed to take care of illegal immigration is a huge percentage of the increase in jobs.

Huge Percentage of Job Gains are Related to Taking Care of Immigrants

For more discussion of the above chart, please see Huge Percentage of Job Gains are Related to Taking Care of Immigrants