National Unemployment Fell, Metro Areas Still Suffer

unemployment_2013The national unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point from August to September to 7.2 percent, but nearly 30 metropolitan regions are still suffering from high unemployment.

The elevated unemployment in those areas is a feature of what has been an uneven recovery in many ways. While 28 metro areas had unemployment at or above 10 percent, 41 others had rates below 5 percent in August, according to new government data that came out Monday. The upshot is that most of metropolitan areas tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics — 311 of the 372 — saw unemployment decline from the year before.

The nation’s 49 most-populous metro areas — those with a population of one million or more — followed a similar trend. Most saw unemployment decline, while only five saw unemployment increase.

Source: Washington Post