The unemployment rate in the Tampa Bay area is higher than in three-quarters of the nation's metropolitan areas, according to new federal statistics.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued unemployment rates for 372 metro areas around the country. In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, 11.1 percent of the civilian labor force was out of work in June. That is the 94th highest rate among the 372 areas, according to BLS figures.
The Bay area also ranked fairly high in the growth of the jobless rate. In June 2008, the Bay area's unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, but by last month it had grown to 11.1 percent. That difference of 4.7 percentage points was the 108th fastest growth rate among the metro areas.
By comparison, the overall U.S. unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in June.
California and Michigan have fared particularly poorly in this recession, the data show. Among the 10 metro areas with the highest unemployment rates, three are in California and four are in Michigan. The nation's highest jobless rate can be found in El Centro, Calif., where 27.5 percent of the labor force is out of work.
Finding work is much easier in the Plains states. People in the Bismarck, N.D., area enjoy the nation's lowest unemployment rate, at just 3.8 percent. Tied for the second lowest jobless rate are Rapid City, S.D., and Manhattan, Kan., at 4.6 percent.
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