Earlier this week the BLS released its report on metro area unemployment, and the numbers weren’t terribly encouraging. Every one of the 372 MSAs included had higher unemployment rates than the year before. What’s more, there are 19 metro areas with at least 15% unemployment, led by El Centro, Calif., at 30.2%.
The encouraging news? Eleven areas recorded rates below 5%, including two North Dakota cites (Bismarck and Fargo) and Rapid City, S.D.
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