National unemployment goes up, again
More U.S. residents every day are staring down unemployment checks.
Unemployment has gone up every month since the beginning of the recession. The national unemployment rate for March was 8.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent in February.
It’s bad everywhere, but some U.S. cities have been hit particularly hard. Here are the four cities in the United States that had the highest unemployment rates in March.
1. El Centro, California
The unemployment rate in El Centro is somewhat artificially inflated because it mostly relies on agricultural employment. The city of about 40,000 is near the Mexico border, and many of the jobs are seasonal. El Centro had the highest unemployment rate in the country in 2008 as well. Still, imagine living in a place where a quarter of the population is unemployed. The unemployment rate in El Centro is 25.1 percent.
Remember, the unemployment rate is based on residents who are actively seeking work and collecting unemployment insurance. People who are ineligible for unemployment or living off of credit cards, personal loans or savings or choose not to work for some other reason aren’t included in the statistics.
2. Merced, California
In the same state, but much farther north, Merced has the second highest unemployment rate in the country. Merced, in central California, has a population of more than 80,000. The unemployment rate for March 2009 was 20.4 percent.
In 2005, the University of California’s 10th campus was built in Merced. However, college students are not included in unemployment statistics. The city’s main employers are fruit and vegetable growers, so the high unemployment rate here is seasonal as well. However, last year at the same time the unemployment rate in Merced was less than 15 percent.
3. Yuba City, California
Sure enough, another California city rounds out the top three. Yuba City lies in Northern California and has a population of about 60,000. It’s the heart of a large metropolitan area with a population of about 164,000. It’s unemployment rate is 19.5 percent.
Orchards and farms surround the metro area, so agriculture is a main industry in this city as well. The city also has large education and health and human services industries.
4. Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana
To find the city in America with the fourth highest unemployment rate, we must travel more than halfway across the country, to the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area. Elkhart-Goshen has an unemployment rate of 18.8 percent. This area has a much different story than the agriculture-dependent California towns. In February 2008 the city’s unemployment rate was just 4.7 percent.
The city’s main — some would argue only — industry is recreational vehicles. For quite a while, the demand for RVs was all Elkhart-Goshen needed to thrive. However, since the start of the recession, demand for RVs has plummeted. In fact, the city is in such a freefall that President Obama visited the area in February to highlight the recession.
More scary statistics
A total of 109 cities have unemployment rates of at least 10 percent for March. Jobless rates were higher than 15 percent in 18 areas. Last year at the same time only one city — El Centro — had an unemployment rate higher than 15 percent. Unemployment rose in March in all 372 of the country’s metro areas.
