Cleveland unemployment rate down 1.5 percentage points over the year ended December 2019

Of the 51 U.S. metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, 39 had over-the-year unemployment rate decreases, 10 had increases, and 2 had no change. The largest unemployment rate decrease occurred in Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio, where the unemployment rate declined from 5.0 percent in December 2018 to 3.5 percent in December 2019, a change of −1.5 percentage points.

Chart Image

Chart Data 12-month change in unemployment rates, selected large metropolitan areas, December 2019, not seasonally adjusted Metropolitan area Over-the-year

change in

unemployment rate Unemployment rate,

December 2019 Unemployment rate,

December 2018 Cleveland-Elyria, OH -1.5 percentage points 3.5% 5.0% Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO -1.3 2.3 3.6 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL -1.1 2.2 3.3 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA -1.1 2.7 3.8 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA -1.1 2.8 3.9 Birmingham-Hoover, AL -1.0 2.2 3.2 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV -1.0 3.5 4.5 Columbus, OH -0.9 3.2 4.1 Salt Lake City, UT -0.8 2.0 2.8 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA -0.8 2.7 3.5 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN -0.8 3.2 4.0 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI -0.7 3.2 3.9 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL -0.6 2.6 3.2 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD -0.6 2.9 3.5 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI -0.6 3.7 4.3 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ -0.6 3.7 4.3 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL -0.5 2.5 3.0 Jacksonville, FL -0.5 2.6 3.1 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA -0.5 3.6 4.1 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN -0.4 2.7 3.1 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX -0.4 2.9 3.3 Raleigh, NC -0.4 2.9 3.3 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA -0.4 3.2 3.6 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA -0.4 3.5 3.9 Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH -0.3 2.1 2.4 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA -0.3 2.2 2.5 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA -0.3 2.2 2.5 Austin-Round Rock, TX -0.3 2.4 2.7 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV -0.3 2.6 2.9 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX -0.3 2.8 3.1 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA -0.3 2.8 3.1 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC -0.3 3.1 3.4 Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA -0.3 3.2 3.5 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX -0.3 3.6 3.9 Richmond, VA -0.2 2.6 2.8 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC -0.2 2.8 3.0 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN -0.2 3.3 3.5 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA -0.2 3.4 3.6 St. Louis, MO-IL -0.1 3.3 3.4 Oklahoma City, OK 0.0 2.8 2.8 Kansas City, MO-KS 0.0 3.1 3.1 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 0.1 2.4 2.3 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 0.1 3.3 3.2 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 0.2 3.0 2.8 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 0.2 3.9 3.7 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 0.3 3.1 2.8 Rochester, NY 0.3 4.3 4.0 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 0.4 4.0 3.6 New Orleans-Metairie, LA 0.4 4.4 4.0 Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY 0.4 4.7 4.3 Pittsburgh, PA 0.8 4.6 3.8

The 12-month change in the unemployment rate was −1.3 percentage points in Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado, and −1.3 percentage points in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida; Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington; and Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon-Washington.

Salt Lake City, Utah, had the lowest unemployment rate among large metropolitan areas, 2.0 percent in December 2019. The unemployment rate in Salt Lake City declined 0.8 percentage points from December 2018 to December 2019.

The December 2019 unemployment rate was 2.1 percent in Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Massachusetts-New Hampshire, and 2.2 percent in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida; Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama; San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California; and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — December 2019. Also see more charts and maps of metropolitan area employment and unemployment data.

RELATED ARTICLES 45 metro areas had increases in nonfarm employment from December 2018 to December 2019