Jobless Rates Rise In All US Metro Areas In March

Roger Lee, executive director of the nonprofit Economic Development for Central Oregon, said losses in construction jobs have battered the area, with the impact rippling through retail and service sectors. The region's unemployment rate also has been affected by a growth in the labor force. State officials believe that is due to spouses going back into the job market to keep households afloat and retirees returning to work to supplement damaged retirement savings accounts.

Rounding out the top three was North Carolina's Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, which saw its unemployment rate rise to 15.4 percent last month, an increase of 9.1 percentage points. That region has been especially hard hit by heavy layoffs in manufacturing amid a recession that is nearing a record as the longest in the post World War II period.

El Centro, Calif., continued to claim the highest unemployment rate — 25.1 percent. The jobless rate there is notoriously high because there are so many unemployed seasonal agriculture workers.

Following close behind were Merced, Calif., with a jobless rate of 20.4 percent, and Yuba City, Calif., at 19.5 percent.

The national unemployment rate soared to 8.5 percent, a quarter-century high, in March.