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Elkhart 4th Worst for US Unemployment, Other Regions Harder Hit

by Tina Kells | February 9, 2009 at 12:36 pm

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When I wrote about President Barack Obama's town hall meetings to promote the stimulus package I was shocked to learn that unemployment in some regions of the United States is higher than 15%.

When you hear about the national unemployment rate it is easy to forget that the given figure is an average and that some places are likely to be harder hit than others. But 15%??? That seems heartbreakingly high.

Elkhart, Indiana, a Republican stronghold, was the stage for President Obama's first town hall stimulus meeting and the unemployment rate there currently sits at 15.3%. That is staggering enough but consider this; Elkhart has the fourth highest rate meaning there are three places in the United States that are even worse off.

According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area suffered the sharpest unemployment increase in America in 2008. The jobless rate jumped from 4.7% when the year began to a stunning 15.3% when it ended.

The Elkhart unemployment rate made me wonder a couple of things. Just how bad are things getting in the United States, what is the state by state unemployment rates? Which three regions were worse off than Elkhart, and by how much?

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics provides a monthly list of state-by-state unemployment rates. As of December 2008 the state with the lowest unemployment rate is Wyoming at 3.4%; the state with the highest rate is Michigan with 10.6%. With January 2009 hitting record job losses of nearly 600,000 those figures are sure to go up.

Of the three areas hit harder than Elkhart, Indiana, the top two were in California and the third was in Arizona. El Centro, California, which is already the unemployment capital of the United States remained in first place with an unemployment rate of 22.6% as of December 2008. Merced, California was a distant second at 15.5%, followed by Yuma, Arizona at 15.4%. Elkhart was in fourth position with 15.3% but was in first place for jobless rate increase with a 10.6% jump from December 2007 levels.

The best places to live and work in the United States were also included in the US Labour Bureau Report that identified Elkhart as the most devastated region of the country. Morgantown, West Virginia and Logan, Utah-Idaho reported the lowest unemployment rates in the country with 2.7% and 2.8% respectively.

In December, 168 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at
least 7.0 percent, up from 33 areas a year earlier, while 22 areas
posted rates below 4.0 percent, down from 112 areas in December 2007.
El Centro, Calif., continued to record the highest unemployment rate,
22.6 percent. The areas with the next highest rates were Merced,
Calif., 15.5 percent; Yuma, Ariz., 15.4 percent; and Elkhart-Goshen,
Ind., 15.3 percent. Morgantown, W.Va., and Logan, Utah-Idaho, regis-
tered the lowest jobless rates, 2.7 and 2.8 percent, respectively. Over-
all, 153 areas posted unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 7.1
percent, 209 areas reported rates below it, and 7 areas had the same
rate. (See table 1.)

Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., recorded the largest jobless rate increase
from December 2007 (+10.6 percentage points), followed by Dalton, Ga.
(+6.2 points). Both areas have experienced manufacturing-related
layoffs in recent months. An additional 27 areas registered over-the-
year unemployment rate increases of 4.0 percentage points or more, and
another 66 areas had rate increases of 3.0 to 3.9 points. No area had
a jobless rate decrease of more than 0.2 percentage point from a year
earlier.

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James Herman

at 16:53 on February 9th, 2009

Merced, California

James Herman has contributed a photo to this story.

pamelainob

at 18:33 on February 10th, 2009

Photos taken by Pamela Schreckengost on a visit to the Yuma area. We traveled out to Aztec (east of Yuma) and then drove back up Hwy 95 through some of the farming areas and then back into Yuma.

pamelainob has contributed a photo to this story.