Metropolitan Area Employment And Unemployment: October 2004 — 2004-12-01

In October, 261 metropolitan areas recorded lower unemployment rates than a year earlier, 59 areas had higher rates, and 11 areas had rates that were unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Twenty-five metropolitan areas registered jobless rates below 3.0 percent, with 12 of these located in the South, 7 in the Midwest, and 5 in the Northeast. Six of the seven areas with unemployment rates of at least 10.0 percent were located in California. The national unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted, in October. Ninety-eight metropolitan areas reported jobless rates below 4.0 per- cent in October, up from 67 areas a year earlier, while 26 areas registered unemployment rates of at least 7.0 percent, down from 45 areas in October 2003. Bryan-College Station, Texas, and Fargo-Moorhead, N.D.-Minn., record- ed the lowest jobless rates, 1.7 and 1.8 percent, respectively.