The Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area of Maryland and the Birmingham-Hoover area in Alabama posted the lowest jobless rates among the largest US metro areas in October at 2.2% each, according to data released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise area in Nevada posted the highest rate at 5.4%.

In October, 32 of the 51 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more had year-over-year unemployment rate increases, 13 had decreases and six had no change.

Among metro areas of all sizes, Bismarck, North Dakota, had the lowest unemployment rate at 1.4%, followed by Fargo, North Dakota-Minnesota, at 1.5%.

El Centro, California, posted the highest jobless rate among metropolitan areas of all sizes in October at 19.3%.

According to the BLS, 11 of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 38 metropolitan divisions, which are essentially separately identifiable employment centers. In October, the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall area in Florida had the lowest division unemployment rate at 1.6%. On the other hand, the Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia area in Michigan had the highest rate among the divisions at 5.5%.