Unemployment rates declined year over year in 386 of 389 metropolitan areas, increased in one area and remained unchanged in two areas, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Dec. 2.
Six takeaways from the bureau's report:
1. In October 2021, Logan, Utah, and Provo-Orem, Utah, had the lowest unemployment rates among metro areas. Rates in those areas were 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
2. El Centro, Calif., had the highest unemployment rate among metro areas in October 2021 (17.7 percent).
3. In 252 metro areas, unemployment rates in October 2021 were below the national rate of 4.3 percent.
4. The Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii, metro area saw the largest unemployment rate decrease between October 2020 and October 2021 (14.6 percentage points).
5. The unemployment rate increased year over year in only one metro area — Springfield, Ohio (0.4 percentage points).
6. Among the 51 metro areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, the largest unemployment rate decline year over year was in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev. (7.1 percentage points).