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By Omar Mohammed
Reporter, Economy & Finance
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A new map shows where the unemployment rate is highest in the United States.
Vineland-Bridgeton in New Jersey, in the southern part of the state with a population of about 150,000 people, saw the largest unemployment rate jump in August for metropolitan areas in the U.S. compared to a year ago, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed on Wednesday.
Overall, BLS said that the unemployment rates were higher in 189 of the 389 metropolitan areas measured, fell in 186 places and unchanged in 14 parts of the country.
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Highest (and Lowest) Unemployment Rate Jump
The 3.9 unemployment rate in August is back to almost pre-pandemic levels. In April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19-induced economic crisis, the number of those who lost their jobs soared to nearly 15 percent.
That's not where things stand right now.
The number of people without jobs in Vineland-Bridgeton increased by nearly 3 percent. El Centro, California, a majority Hispanic city near the Mexican border, saw a 2.7 percent spike in its unemployment rate. Both towns were below the national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent in August.
On the flipside, Kokomo, Indiana, experienced the largest decrease in the unemployment rate at more than 2 percent.
Cities With Low Unemployment Rate
The best place for jobs in America would seem to be Bismarck in North Dakota which boasted quite a low unemployment rate at 1.5 percent. The next lowest rate was in Fargo, which sits on the Red River of the North which straddles Minnesota and North Dakota, boasting a 1.6 percent unemployment rate, BLS revealed.
For areas with populations of at least 1 million, Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise in the southwestern state of Nevada saw the highest unemployment rate of more than 6 percent, but Baltimore-Columbia-Towson in Maryland had the lowest jobless rate in August at 1.8 percent, the data, which is based on statistics from two monthly programs, revealed.
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What Do the Numbers Mean?
The numbers show the extent to which the labor market around the country has continued to show resilience even as elevated inflation and high interest rates are threatening to drag down the economy into a possible recession by next year.
The nonfarm payroll employment, which is an indicator that illustrates that businesses are hiring and excludes jobs such as farm work and unregistered self-employment, jumped in August in 66 metropolitan areas. The New York-Newark-Jersey City area saw the highest real-number jump at more than 200,000 people hired.
Midland, Texas, saw the largest percentage gain in employment at more than 5 percent in August compared to a year ago, followed by Huntsville, Alabama, which was at 4.6 percent. Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana, saw a downturn in nonfarm employment of 3.5 percent.
The nonfarm payroll employment measure offers a snapshot of the state of the labor market as it demonstrates whether businesses are growing or shrinking, as the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis summary points out.
It also shows that "those who are newly employed have increased their personal incomes, which means (all else constant) their disposable incomes have also increased, thus fostering further economic expansion."
With 66 metropolitan areas showing a jump in nonfarm payroll employment, a decline in only one area and remaining unchanged in 322 areas, suggests how the labor market continues to show strength despite some of the headwinds the U.S. economy is grappling with.
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