13 Cities Post Unemployment Above 15 Percent

Nine of the highest are in California. An additional 93 metro areas are at 10% or more.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- There were 13 unlucky cities with unemployment rates topping 15% in April, and another 93 saw joblessness climb above 10%, according to a government report released Wednesday.

Nine of the baker's dozen are in California, a state ravaged by the housing meltdown and an unparalleled state budget crisis. Officials are now scrambling to close a $21.3 billion shortfall in order to pass a budget before the new fiscal year begins July 1.

By comparison, only seven cities reported unemployment rates above 10% in April 2008, the Labor Department said in its report.

April 2009 was the fourth consecutive month that unemployment rose in all of the nation's 372 metropolitan areas compared with the same month in the prior year, the report said.

For areas with 1 million or more residents, Detroit was the worst hit, posting a rate of 13.6%. Portland, Ore., showed the largest increase, jumping to 11.6% from 4.7% in April 2008.

The least affected of the big cities was New Orleans, at 5.3%. At 3.2%, Iowa City, Iowa, reported the lowest overall rate in the country.

The number of metropolitan regions that had unemployment rates under 7% dropped sharply to 117 from 347 in April 2008. Only 31 areas reported unemployment rates below 5% in the current report.

A total of 33 metro areas registered unemployment rates that were at least 6 percentage points higher than a year ago, and another 44 areas' increases were 5 to 5.9 percentage points.

1. El Centro, Calif - 26.9%
2. Yuma, Ariz. - 20.3%
3. Merced, Calif. - 18.3%
4. Yuba City, Calif. - 18.2%
5. Elkhart, Ind. - 17.8%
6. Modesto, Calif. - 16.8%
7. Stockton, Calif. - 15.6%
8. Bend, Ore. - 15.6%
9. Fresno, Calif. - 15.5%
10. Visalia, Calif. - 15.4%
11. Redding, Calif. - 15.4%
12. Hanford, Calif. - 15.3%
13. Longview, WA - 15.2%

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/13-cities-post-unemployment-above-15-percent.html