Unemployment Falls In 80 Percent Of Largest US Cities
By KUNA
The unemployment fell last month in over 80 percent of the nation’s largest cities, according to a report released Wednesday by the US Department of Labor.
The unemployment rate fell in 303 of the nation’s 372 largest cities in March, the report showed.
The figure is up from the more than the 287 cities that reported a drop the previous month and the best showing since September.
The rate rose in 43 cities and was unchanged in 26.
Nationwide, the jobless rate dipped to a two-year low of 8.8 percent in March and has dropped a full percentage point since November.
Businesses added a net total of more than 200,000 jobs in March and February, the fastest two-month hiring spree in five years.
The report also shows the lasting effects of the April 2010 BP oil spill, which polluted the Gulf of Mexico and disrupted fishing and oil production in the region. Seven of the 10 cities with the biggest increases in unemployment in the past year are located in Louisiana, most of them near the Gulf.
El Centro, California reported the nation’s highest jobless rate at 24.6 percent, followed by Yuma, Arizona, with 21.7 percent.
Conversely, Lincoln, Nebraska had the lowest rate, with 4.1 percent, followed by Bismarck, North Dakota with 4.2 percent.
