Most major metro areas see spike in unemployment

According to January reports from the Labor Department, unemployment rates in the majority of the 372 largest cities in the U.S. increased in January.

Unemployment only fell in 16 cities and remained unchanged in five, the source says, making the numbers less positive than information for the month before. A contributing factor may have been layoffs of construction employees resulting from harsh winter weather, USA Today says.

Nationally, unemployment dropped 0.1 percent to 8.9 percent in February, less than the 0.4 percent dip it took in January. The high unemployment rates occurred mostly in cities with struggling housing markets, the source says.

"The areas that have had very severe housing market corrections have shown the least improvement," Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director at Moody’s Analytics, told the source.

With so many areas suffering from the effects of unemployment, those planning on moving in an effort to find work may have few options, as cities with positive employment prospects are sparse. However, according to a recent ranking by Forbes, Minneapolis currently has one of the healthiest job markets in the country.
 

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