| Unemployment rates fell in August in nearly 90 percent of large U.S. metro areas, mainly because more people gave up looking for work. |
| The Labor Department said Wednesday that unemployment rates dropped in 329 large cities, the most in four months. Rates rose in 24 cities and were unchanged in 19. |
| Here are unemployment rates in August for states and cities in the South: |
| Metro Area Unemployment Rates, South |
| Unemployment rates by state and city |
| Figures in percentages |
| Aug. 2012 July 2012 Aug. 2011 |
| Alabama 8.5 8.9 9.4 |
| Anniston-Oxford 8.9 9.4 9.6 |
| Auburn-Opelika 7.4 8 7.9 |
| Birmingham-Hoover 7.6 7.9 8.6 |
| Decatur 8.2 8.7 9.2 |
| Dothan 8.2 8.3 8.5 |
| Florence-Muscle Shoals 8.2 8.6 8.9 |
| Gadsden 8.7 8.8 9.5 |
| Huntsville 7.2 7.6 7.9 |
| Mobile 9.6 10.1 10.6 |
| Montgomery 8.6 8.8 9.5 |
| Tuscaloosa 8.4 9.1 9 |
| Arkansas 6.9 7.8 8 |
| Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 5.3 6.1 6.4 |
| Fort Smith 7.9 8.5 8.5 |
| Hot Springs 7.3 8 8 |
| Jonesboro 6.6 7.6 7.6 |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 6.3 7 7.2 |
| Pine Bluff 8.8 9.8 10.2 |
| Delaware 7 7.1 7.4 |
| Dover 7.6 7.7 7.7 |
| Washington, D.C. 8.8 9.1 10.4 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria-Md. 5.5 5.6 6 |
| Florida 9 9.4 10.9 |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers 9.5 9.8 11.5 |
| Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin 6.1 6.5 7.5 |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach 9.1 9.5 11 |
| Gainesville 7.1 7.8 8.5 |
| Jacksonville 8.7 9.1 10.6 |
| Lakeland-Winter Haven 10.2 10.6 12.3 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach 8.9 9.3 10.7 |
| Naples-Marco Island 9.6 9.7 11.6 |
| North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota 9.1 9.3 11.2 |
| Ocala 10.1 10.6 12.7 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 8.7 9.1 10.7 |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 9.4 9.8 11.7 |
| Palm Coast 12.4 12.7 14.7 |
| Panama City-Lynn Haven 7.9 8.3 9.6 |
| Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 8.4 9 10.1 |
| Port St Lucie 11.4 11.7 13.1 |
| Punta Gorda 9.3 9.3 11.2 |
| Sebastian-Vero Beach 11.9 12.2 13.9 |
| Tallahassee 7.5 8.2 8.9 |
| Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater 9 9.4 11.2 |
| Georgia 9.2 9.5 10.1 |
| Albany 9.9 10.3 10.8 |
| Athens-Clarke County 6.7 7.3 7.5 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta 8.9 9.2 9.9 |
| Augusta-Richmond County 9.4 9.8 9.6 |
| Brunswick 10.1 10.7 10.9 |
| Columbus 9.3 9.8 9.6 |
| Dalton 11.6 12.1 12.4 |
| Gainesville 7.2 7.7 8.1 |
| Hinesville-Fort Stewart 9.1 9.6 9.6 |
| Macon 9.7 10.1 10.4 |
| Rome 10.3 10.6 11.7 |
| Savannah 8.6 9.1 9.5 |
| Valdosta 8.7 9.1 9.4 |
| Warner Robins 7.6 8.1 7.9 |
| Kentucky 8.4 8.5 9.3 |
| Bowling Green 7.5 7.7 8.2 |
| Elizabethtown 8 8 8.8 |
| Lexington-Fayette 6.8 6.8 7.7 |
| Louisville-Jefferson County 8.2 8.3 9.6 |
| Owensboro 7.2 7.2 8 |
| Louisiana 7.3 7.9 7.6 |
| Alexandria 7.2 8 7.4 |
| Baton Rouge 7.2 8 7.8 |
| Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 4.9 5.4 5.3 |
| Lafayette 5 5.5 5.9 |
| Lake Charles 6.7 7.4 7.1 |
| Monroe 8.1 8.7 8 |
| New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner 7.5 8.1 7.6 |
| Shreveport-Bossier City 7.2 7.7 7.1 |
| Maryland 7 7.1 7.3 |
| Baltimore-Towson 7.7 7.7 7.8 |
| Cumberland 7.9 7.9 8.2 |
| Hagerstown-Martinsburg 7.9 7.9 9.1 |
| Salisbury 8.5 8.6 9.1 |
| Mississippi 8.5 10.2 10.7 |
| Gulfport-Biloxi 7.6 9.2 9.5 |
| Hattiesburg 7.3 9 10 |
| Jackson 6.7 8.2 8.2 |
| Pascagoula 8.5 10.3 11.5 |
| North Carolina 9.7 9.9 10.8 |
| Asheville 7.7 7.8 8.7 |
| Burlington 9.7 10 11 |
| Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill 9.7 10.1 11.2 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill 7.6 7.9 8.6 |
| Fayetteville 11.2 10.6 10.7 |
| Goldsboro 8.9 9 9.8 |
| Greensboro-High Point 10 10.3 11.3 |
| Greenville 10.3 10.6 11.5 |
| Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 10.8 11.1 12.8 |
| Jacksonville 9.2 9.3 9.7 |
| Raleigh-Cary 7.8 7.9 9 |
| Rocky Mount 12.9 13.2 14.6 |
| Wilmington 9.8 10.1 10.8 |
| Winston-Salem 9.2 9.4 10.2 |
| Oklahoma 5 5.2 6.1 |
| Lawton 6.4 6.6 6.5 |
| Oklahoma City 4.6 4.8 5.7 |
| Tulsa 5.4 5.5 6.8 |
| South Carolina 9.4 9.7 10.6 |
| Anderson 9.2 9.5 10.3 |
| Charleston-Summerville 7.9 8.1 9 |
| Columbia 8.4 8.6 9.5 |
| Florence 10.2 10.4 11.7 |
| Greenville-Mauldin-Easley 7.9 8.3 8.9 |
| Myrtle Beach-Conway 9.4 9.4 10.1 |
| Spartanburg 9.5 10.1 11 |
| Sumter 10.7 11 12 |
| Tennessee 8.3 8.7 9.3 |
| Chattanooga 7.8 8.3 8.7 |
| Clarksville 9 9.3 10 |
| Cleveland 8.6 9 9.8 |
| Jackson 8.9 9.1 10.1 |
| Johnson City 7.7 7.9 8.6 |
| Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol 7.6 7.9 8.5 |
| Knoxville 6.9 7 7.6 |
| Memphis 8.9 9.6 10.2 |
| Morristown 10.3 10.5 11.2 |
| Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro 7.2 7.3 8.2 |
| Texas 7 7.5 8.2 |
| Abilene 5.7 6.3 6.8 |
| Amarillo 5 5.5 5.7 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 5.9 6.4 7.1 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur 10.7 11.4 11.5 |
| Brownsville-Harlingen 11.1 11.6 12.1 |
| College Station-Bryan 6.3 6.8 7.1 |
| Corpus Christi 6.5 7 8.1 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 6.9 7.4 8.1 |
| El Paso 9.5 10.1 10.8 |
| Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown 7 7.5 8.4 |
| Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood 7.7 8.3 8.5 |
| Laredo 7.1 7.8 8.5 |
| Longview 6.2 6.6 7.2 |
| Lubbock 5.8 6.4 6.6 |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 11.7 12.3 12.5 |
| Midland 3.8 4.2 4.5 |
| Odessa 4.5 4.8 6 |
| San Angelo 5.5 6 6.5 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels 6.7 7.3 7.8 |
| Sherman-Denison 7.2 7.7 8.6 |
| Texarkana 6.6 7.1 7.8 |
| Tyler 7.2 7.4 8.2 |
| Victoria 5.7 6.4 6.8 |
| Waco 6.7 7.4 7.8 |
| Wichita Falls 6.6 7.2 7.3 |
| Virginia 5.8 6.1 6.5 |
| Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford 6.4 7.2 7.1 |
| Charlottesville 5 5.3 5.6 |
| Danville 8.6 9.1 10.3 |
| Harrisonburg 5.9 6.5 6.4 |
| Lynchburg 6.5 7.1 7.3 |
| Richmond 6.4 6.7 7.2 |
| Roanoke 6 6.4 6.8 |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News 6.5 6.8 7.3 |
| Winchester 5.9 6.1 6.6 |
| West Virginia 7.2 7.2 7.9 |
| Charleston 6.9 6.6 7.3 |
| Huntington-Ashland 7.2 7.4 8.5 |
| Morgantown 5.3 5 5.9 |
| Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna 6.8 7 8.5 |
| Wheeling 7.3 7.3 8.5 |
