June 1999 — 1999-07-28

In June, 210 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. average (4.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while 109 areas had higher rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Of the nine metropolitan areas with rates below 2.0 percent, five were located in the Midwest, and three were in the South. Among the 13 areas with jobless rates over 10.0 percent, 6 were in California and 6 were in Texas. Seventy-two metropolitan areas had unemployment rates below 3.0 percent in June, while 42 areas had rates above 6.0 percent. The lowest jobless rates were recorded in Madison, Wis., and Sioux Falls, S.D. (both 1.4 percent), and Charlottesville, Va., and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. (both 1.5 percent). The highest rate, 33.6 percent, was in Yuma, Ariz., where summer jobless rates tend to be about double the winter rates each year. Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, Calif. (15.9 percent), and McAllen- Edinburg-Mission, Tex. (15.1 percent), followed with the next highest unemployment rates.