December 2000 — 2001-01-31

In December, 215 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. average (3.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while 106 areas registered higher rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Forty-three metropolitan areas had rates below 2.0 percent, with 14 of these located in New England, 13 in the Midwest, 11 in the South, and 5 in the West. Of the nine metropolitan areas with jobless rates over 10.0 percent, seven were in West Coast states and two were along the Mexican border in other states. Ninety-one metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 2.5 percent in December, while 35 areas had rates over 5.5 percent. Two areas in Connecticut--Danbury and Stamford-Norwalk--registered the lowest jobless rates in December, 1.0 percent each. Columbia, Mo., which had recorded the lowest rate or tied for the lowest rate in each of the prior 15 months, had the next lowest rate in December, 1.1 percent.