The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area in Florida had the lowest jobless rate in December among all US metropolitan areas with more than 1 million in population at 1.9%, the US Bureau of Statistics reported today.

On the other hand, the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise area in Nevada reported the highest rate at 5.4%.

Madison, Wisconsin, had the lowest unemployment rate among metropolitan areas of all sizes at 1.6% in December. The next lowest rate was in Columbia, Missouri, at 1.7%.

El Centro, California, had the highest jobless rate among metropolitan areas of all sizes at 14.8%.

Unemployment rates were lower in December than a year earlier in 244 of the 389 metropolitan areas, higher in 115 areas and unchanged in 30 areas. A total of 172 areas had jobless rates of less than 3.0%, while two areas had rates of at least 10.0%.

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 December, the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall are in Florida, had the lowest division unemployment rate at 1.4%.

Tacoma-Lakewood, Washington, had the highest jobless rate among the divisions at 5.3%.