Dow Jones Newswires | The job market in April was tougher for hundreds of U.S. metropolitan
areas compared to a year ago, according to new data the U.S. Labor
Department released Wednesday.

Specifically, April unemployment rates were higher in 291 of the 372
metropolitan areas covered by the Labor Department report. It was lower
in 73 areas and unchanged in eight areas.

The national unemployment rate in April was 9.5%, on a non-seasonally
adjusted basis. But 14 areas — 11 of which were in California — reported
unemployment rates of at least 15%.

The Las Vegas-Paradise region of Nevada had the largest year-over-year
jump in its April unemployment rate. It reported a 3.7 percentage point
increase in its April jobless rate compared to a year ago. In addition,
four other areas had year-over-year rate increases of more than 3.0
percentage points in April: Farmington,N.M., Yuba City, Calif.,
Rockford, Ill., and Yuma, Ariz.

Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., posted the largest year-over-year decrease in the
April unemployment rate, a decrease of 4.8 percentage points.

Eight areas reported jobless rates below 5 percent. Bismarck, N.D. had the
lowest April unemployment rate at 3.6 percent.

Out of the metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million
or more, the Detroit-Warren-Livonia area of Michigan had the highest
unemployment rate in April at 14.8 percent. That was followed by the Las
Vegas-Paradise region and the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario,
California area, which each registered a 14.2 percent unemployment rate in
April.

Meanwhile, 300 metropolitan areas in April reported year-over-year
decreases in nonfarm payroll employment. Eight regions were unchanged.
While unemployment rate data is derived from household surveys, the
nonfarm payroll data comes from payrolls.

The largest over-the-year decrease in nonfarm payroll employment was in
the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. region, followed by the
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Ind.-Wis. region.

The largest over-the-year increase in nonfarm payroll employment
occurred in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, Va.-Md.-W.Va. region.