November 2000 — 2001-01-03

In November, 217 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. average (3.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while 108 areas registered higher rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Forty-one metropolitan areas had jobless rates below 2.0 percent, with 13 of these located in the Midwest, 13 in the South, and 12 in New England. Seven of the eight areas with rates above 10.0 percent were in the West. Seventy-six metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 2.5 percent in November, while 36 areas had rates of at least 5.5 percent. The lowest rates were in Columbia, Mo. (0.9 percent), Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. (1.0 percent), and Bloomington, Ind., and Danbury, Conn. (both 1.1 percent). Yuma, Ariz., again had the highest rate (23.9 percent), followed by Visalia- Tulare-Porterville, Calif. (16.3 percent). (See table 1 and the chart.) Compared with November 1999, 185 metropolitan areas reported lower unemployment rates, 119 had higher rates, and 27 were unchanged.