Metro Jobless Rates in July

Unemployment rates were higher in July than a year earlier in 338 metropolitan areas, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

• The rates were lower in 25 areas and unchanged in six.
• El Centro, CA, and neighboring Yuma, AZ, recorded the highest unemployment rates, 23.3% and 20.0%, respectively.
• Sioux Falls, S.D., registered the lowest rate, 2.4%.

Overall, 153 areas posted unemployment rates in July above the national, not seasonally adjusted figure of 6.0%, while 205 areas had rates below it, and 11 areas had the same rate.