The D.C. metro area’s unemployment rate fell to a pandemic low of 3.5% in July, down from 3.7% in June and 5.4% a year earlier.
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports unemployment rates were lower than a year earlier in 383 of the nation’s 389 metropolitan statistical areas. Ninety-one cities had unemployment rates of less than 3%.
Seven cities tied for the lowest July unemployment rate at just 1.7%:
- Burlington, Vermont;
- Fargo, North Dakota;
- Logan, Utah;
- Mankato, Minnesota;
- Portsmouth, New Hampshire;
- Rochester, Minnesota;
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Yuma, Arizona had the highest unemployment rate in July at 18.4%.
Among cities with a population of 1 million or more, Minneapolis had the lowest unemployment rate at 2%, and Las Vegas had the highest, at 5.6%.
Metropolitan unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
See monthly metropolitan unemployment rates and changes in nonfarm payrolls online.