Florida metro areas dot the U.S. Conference of Mayors review of the worst large metro area unemployment rates in the first quarter of the year, with four Florida regions in the top 15. Most of the others, including the five worst unemployment rates for metro areas in the nation, are in California, the mayors reported.
The Stockton, Calif., metro area, with a 16.6 percent unemployment rate for the first quarter, was worst, followed by Modesto; Fresno; Bakersfield; and Riverside-San Bernarndino.
Florida metro areas with unemployment rates in the top 10 nationally were Lakeland-Winter Haven, at 12.1 percent, putting it seventh in the nation, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, which was devastated by the real estate downturn, and had an 11.9 percent rate, making it No. 9, nationally.
Also in the top 15: Miami-Fort Lauderdale (11.6 percent unemployment, No. 12); Tampa-St. Pete (11.4 percent, tied for No. 13); and North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota (11.4 percent tied for No. 13.)
“These areas were highly dependent on inflated real estate markets, and the housing collapse has resulted in very high unemployment,” the mayors noted.
Areas where manufacturing is king are the mainstay on the list of large metro areas with relatively low unemployment rates – with a notably high number of Midwestern cities seeing low jobless rates.
Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa were particularly good places to look for jobs in the first quarter – The Omaha area – and nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa – at 4.8 percent, had the lowest unemployment rate among the 100 largest metro areas, while Oklahoma City 5.7 percent, Des Moines at 6 percent, and Tulsa at 7 percent also were among the lowest.
Other Midwestern cities doing well included Madison, Wisc., (5.2 percent); and Minneapolis-St. Paul (6.3 percent). The Southern cities doing well were Little Rock, Ark., (6.7 percent); Virginia Beach (6.8 percent); Austin, Texas (6.8 percent); and Richmond, Va., (6.9 percent).
