January 2001 — 2001-03-14

In January, 205 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. average (4.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while 117 areas registered higher rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Among the 10 metropolitan areas with jobless rates below 2.0 percent, 3 were in Virginia, which had one of the lowest state rates in January. Of the 12 areas with rates greater than 10.0 percent, 8 were in California. Thirty-four metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 2.5 percent in January, while 73 areas had rates over 5.5 percent. The lowest rates were in Charlottesville, Va. (1.3 percent), Columbia, Mo. (1.4 percent), and Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. (1.5 percent). Merced, Calif., and Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, Calif., had the highest unemployment rates (17.6 and 17.5 percent, respectively), followed by Yuma, Ariz. (16.5 percent). (See table 1 and the chart.) In January, 200 metropolitan areas reported lower unemployment rates from a year earlier, 119 had higher rates, and 12 were unchanged. (The U.S.