Apr 29, 2009 10:26 am US/Central
Unemployment Up Again In Chicago In March
But Many Cities Fare Much Worse
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
-
-
Job seeker Katherine Fuentes looks over job listings at the One-Stop Career Link Center Feb. 25, 2009 in San Francisco.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Unemployment rose again in the Chicago area last month, and is now approaching the 10 percent mark.
In the Chicago metropolitan area, unemployment rose from 9.2 percent in February to 9.4 perecnt in March, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The bureau defines the Chicago metro area as the city and suburbs, Naperville, Joliet, Northwest Indiana, and Kenosha, Wis.
But compared to some metro areas, Chicago isn't faring badly. There are 109 metropolitan areas in the country that posted unemployment rates of 10 percent or more in March, up from a mere 14 such areas in 2008. The highest was in El Centro, Calif., where unemployment stood at 25.1 percent – as bad as the national average during the depths of the Great Depression in 1933. Also faring poorly were Merced, Calif., with 20.4 percent, Yuba City, Calif., with 19.5 percent, and Goshen, Ind., with 18.8 percent.
The area around Goshen and Elkhart, Ind., also saw the largest unemployment increase from February to March with an increase of a staggering 13 percent.
Among regions with a population of 1 million or more, the Detroit area, home to the struggling titans of the auto industry, had the worst March unemployment figure with 14 percent.
The lowest major metro area unemployment figures were seen in New Orleans, with 5.3 percent, and Oklahoma City, with 5.6 percent.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
The Tattooed Ladies of Hollywood
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments