Lowest Unemployment Rates Among Large Counties Found in Madison-WI, San Francisco-CA, Denver-CO; Highest Unemployment in Bakersfield-CA, Fresno-CA, Modesto-CA

07 Dec 2015 Lowest Unemployment Rates Among Large Counties Found in Madison-WI, San Francisco-CA, Denver-CO; Highest Unemployment in Bakersfield-CA, Fresno-CA, Modesto-CA

With the U.S. unemployment rate falling to 4.9% in September, rates in large counties (500,000+ people) range from 2.7% to 8.4%.

Unemployment is lowest in Dane County (2.7%) in Madison, WI; San Mateo County (3.0%) in San Francisco; and Jefferson County (3.0%) in Denver.  Low unemployment counties are also found in Omaha, Provo, and Kansas City metros.

The highest unemployment is found in Kern County (8.4%) in Bakersfield-CA, Fresno County (8.1%) in Fresno-CA, and Stanislaus County (7.6%) in Modesto-CA.

Large Counties 2015 Rates Table

 

The U.S. unemployment rate today is nearly identical to the rate in 2005 (just 0.1 percentage points higher). Seventy large counties saw unemployment increase and 65 registered a decrease.

Unemployment decreased the most in Kent County (-2.4 pts.) in Grand Rapids-MI; Denver County (-1.9 pts.) in Denver-CO; and Franklin County (-1.8 pts.) in Columbus-OH.

The largest increase in unemployment was in Miami-Dade County (2.9 pts.) in Miami-FL; Clark County (2.6 pts.) in Las Vegas-NV; and Brevard County (2.1 pts.) in Palm Bay-FL.  Seven of the 10 least improved large counties are located in Florida, due to very low unemployment rates in 2005.

Large Counties 2015 Growth Table

Click here to download a spreadsheet of the data.

Research, analysis and content developed by Headlight Data.  Original data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

About Headlight Data:

Headlight Data is an award-winning online data aggregator, designed for economic and workforce development organizations, that provides online, decision-support tools on the economy, demographics, education, workforce and public policy.

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