In another signal of tightening labor markets all 51 metropolitan areas in the US with a 2010 Census population of over 1 million had year-over-year unemployment rate decreases in September, reported the US Bureau of Labor Statistics this week . The largest 12 month decline in unemployment was in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, where the jobless rate declined 8%.
Salt Lake City, Utah and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma had the lowest unemployment rates with 1.7% and 1.9% respectively. Meanwhile the Las Vegas and Los Angeles were tied for the highest unemployment rate among large metropolitan areas with 7.4% each despite showing strong recoveries.
In absolute numbers the greatest number of jobs added between September 2020 and September 2021 was in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area with 364,000, the New York Metropolitan Area with 261,000, the Dallas Metropolitan Area with 197,000 and the Houston Metropolitan Area with 148,000.
The largest year-over-year gain in employment occurred in Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawai, with 23.9%, underlining the strong fluctuations in tourism due to the pandemic.
According to a 2020 study metro areas accounted for 89% of national employment in 2019 and had a mean annual wage $12,500 higher than non-metro areas.
(By Staff)
