📊 Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment (Monthly): September 2025 Summary

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) report for September 2025 provides a detailed look at labor market conditions across 387 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), plus six areas in Puerto Rico. This report, produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is a key resource for understanding regional economic health, labor force trends, and employment shifts in the United States.

Overview of the Report

The report draws on two main data sources:

  • The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, which measures unemployment and labor force participation by place of residence.
  • The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program, which tracks nonfarm payroll employment by place of work.

Both programs are federal-state collaborations and use rigorous statistical methods to ensure data reliability.

Key Findings for September 2025

  1. Unemployment Rate Trends
    • 📈 Widespread Increases: Unemployment rates rose in 275 out of 387 metropolitan areas compared to September 2024, fell in 83 areas, and remained unchanged in 29.
    • 📉 National Rate: The U.S. not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3%, up from 3.9% a year earlier.
    • 🟢 Lowest and Highest Rates: Sioux Falls, SD-MN, had the lowest unemployment rate at 1.8%, while El Centro, CA, had the highest at 21.5%.
    • 🏙️ Large Metro Areas: Among metros with populations over 1 million, Urban Honolulu, HI, had the lowest rate (2.2%), and Fresno, CA, the highest (7.5%).
  2. Notable Changes in Unemployment
    • 🔺 Largest Increases: Brownsville-Harlingen, TX, saw the biggest year-over-year jump (+2.2 percentage points).
    • 🔻 Largest Decreases: Kahului-Wailuku, HI, and Kokomo, IN, experienced the largest declines (-1.5 percentage points each).
    • 🏙️ Metropolitan Divisions: Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL, had the lowest division rate (3.0%), while Newark, NJ, had the highest (6.0%).
  3. Nonfarm Payroll Employment
    • ➕ Limited Growth: Nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in just 10 metropolitan areas and was essentially unchanged in 377.
    • 🏆 Largest Gains: The biggest employment increases were in:
      • New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ (+85,200 jobs)
      • Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (+44,100)
      • Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN (+40,900)
    • 📈 Highest Percentage Growth: Rochester, MN (+7.0%), Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC (+4.4%), and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR (+3.3%) led in percentage terms.
    • 🏙️ Large Metro Areas: Among metros with over 1 million people, Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC, had the highest percentage increase (+2.9%).
  4. Impact of Federal Government Shutdown
    • ⚠️ Data Delays: Publication of September data was delayed by over six weeks due to a lapse in federal appropriations.
    • 🛑 October Data: No October 2025 report will be published; October data collection was disrupted.
  5. Methodological Notes
    • 📋 Definitions: The report uses standard definitions for employment and unemployment, consistent with national statistics.
    • 🧮 Estimation: Data are based on sample surveys, administrative records, and statistical modeling. Some estimates are subject to sampling and nonsampling errors.
    • 🔄 Annual Revisions: Data are revised annually to reflect updated population estimates and methodological improvements.

Summary of Economic Implications

  • 📉 The rise in unemployment rates across most metropolitan areas signals a broad-based cooling in local labor markets, possibly reflecting national economic headwinds.
  • 🏙️ The fact that only 10 metros saw significant job growth, while most areas remained flat, suggests that employment gains are concentrated in a few large or dynamic regions.
  • ⚠️ The wide range in unemployment rates—from under 2% to over 21%—highlights persistent regional disparities, often tied to local industry mix, economic structure, and demographic factors.
  • 🕒 The delay and disruption in data collection due to the federal shutdown may affect short-term economic planning and analysis.

💡 Summary:

The September 2025 Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report shows that most U.S. metropolitan areas experienced rising unemployment rates over the past year, with only a handful seeing notable job growth. The national unemployment rate increased to 4.3%. Regional disparities remain significant, and data collection was impacted by a federal government shutdown. These trends suggest a need for close monitoring of local labor markets and targeted economic policy responses.

References:

Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment (Monthly), US Bureau of Labor Statistics

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