Metropolitan Area Employment And Unemployment: November 2003 — 2003-12-31

In November, 191 metropolitan areas recorded lower unemployment rates than a year earlier, 119 areas had higher rates, and 21 areas had rates that were unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Fourteen areas registered unemployment rates below 3.0 percent, with seven of these in the Midwest and six in the South. Eleven metropolitan areas posted jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, of which seven were located in California and three were along the Mexican border in other states. The national unemployment rate in November was 5.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted. Eighty-five metropolitan areas reported jobless rates below 4.0 percent in November, compared with 71 areas a year earlier, while 45 areas recorded unemployment rates of at least 7.0 percent, down from 51. Columbia, Mo., reported the lowest unemployment rate, 1.9 percent, followed by Bryan-College Station, Texas, 2.1 percent, and Fargo-Moorhead, N.D.-Minn., and Madison, Wis., 2.2 percent each.