The Birmingham-Hoover area in Alabama posted the lowest jobless rate in March among large US metro areas at 1.8%, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The next-lowest jobless rates were in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida, at 2.2% and the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Maryland, area at 2.3%.

On the other hand, the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise area in Nevada reported the highest rate at 5.7%.

A total of 125 areas had jobless rates of less than 3.0%, and 11 areas had rates of at least 8.0%.

Among metro areas of all sizes, the Decatur and Huntsville area in Alabama and the Rapid City area in South Dakota posted the lowest unemployment rates at 1.6% each in March. Madison, Wisconsin and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had the next-lowest rates at 1.7% each.

Meanwhile, El Centro, California, had the highest jobless rate among metropolitan areas of all sizes at 15.6%.

Unemployment rates were lower in March than a year earlier in 208 of the 389 metropolitan areas, higher in 151 areas, and unchanged in 30 areas.

According to the BLS, 11 of the most populous metropolitan areas are made up of 38 metropolitan divisions, essentially separately identifiable employment centers.

In March, Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida, had the lowest division unemployment rate at 1.8%.

Conversely, Elgin, Illinois, and Tacoma-Lakewood, Washington, had the highest rates among the divisions at 5.3% each.