October 2000 — 2000-11-29

In October, 200 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment rates below the U.S. average (3.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while 124 areas registered higher rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Thirty-five metropolitan areas had jobless rates below 2.0 percent, with 19 of these located in the Midwest, 8 in New England, and 7 in the South. Among the six areas with rates above 10.0 percent, four were in the West and two were in the South. Eighty-five metropolitan areas reported unemployment rates below 2.5 percent in October, while 28 areas had rates of at least 5.5 percent. Three Midwest areas--Bloomington, Ind., Columbia, Mo., and Fargo-Moorhead, N.D.-Minn.--registered the lowest rate, 1.1 percent. Six additional areas had rates below 1.5 percent. Yuma, Ariz., continued to have the highest unemployment rate, 29.9 percent. The next highest rate, less than half that of Yuma, was 13.8 percent in Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, Calif.