The Best (and Worst) Metro Areas for Jobs in 2023
The Best (and Worst) Metro Areas for Jobs in 2023
Employment expanded in the vast majority of metropolitan areas in the U.S. in 2023, with only 8% shedding jobs. That’s according to data released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job gains were robust in many metro areas, topping 2% in 34% of them, and exceeding 8% in Ocean City, New Jersey and Manhattan, Kansas. By contrast, losses were relatively modest—the largest being a 2.7% decline in the RV manufacturing of capital Elkhart, Indiana.
Trends in unemployment rates were more varied, with 29% seeing unemployment rate declines, but 53% seeing unemployment rate increases. In other words, many metro areas saw their labor forces grow more quickly than their ranks of jobholders, or more people start looking for work than could be absorbed into the workforce.
Eight of the ten metro areas with the highest unemployment rates, as of December 2023, were in California, and six of the ten metro areas with the largest year-over-year unemployment rate increases were in California. By contrast, seven of the ten metro areas with the largest year-over-year unemployment rate declines were in Pennsylvania. Last year, the unemployment rate in Pennsylvania topped that in California, but the states switched positions in March of 2023, and a large 1.6 percentage point gap has emerged since.
