September 2000 — 2000-11-01

In September, 202 metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below the U.S. average (3.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while 119 areas registered higher rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Twenty-six metropolitan areas had rates below 2.0 percent, with 12 of these located in the Midwest, 7 in New England, and 6 in the South. Among the five areas with jobless rates over 10.0 percent, three were in the West and two were in the South. Seventy-three metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 2.5 percent in September, while 35 areas had rates of at least 5.5 percent. Columbia, Mo., registered the lowest jobless rate (1.0 percent), followed by Bloomington, Ind., and Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. (both 1.1 percent), and Danbury, Conn., and Sioux Falls, S.D. (both 1.2 percent). Yuma, Ariz., where midyear jobless rates tend to be more than double the winter rates, continued to have the highest unemployment rate (34.9 percent).