The Salt Lake City metropolitan area posted the lowest unemployment rate among large metropolitan areas at 2.8% in September, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today. Denver followed closely at 2.9%.

The highest jobless rates among large metropolitan areas in September were posted by the New Orleans-Metairie area in Louisiana and the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area in Southern California, both 6.2%.

The lowest unemployment rate among metropolitan areas of all sizes was in Sioux Falls, S.D., at 2.0%. El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., had the highest unemployment rates at 22.7% and 20.9%, respectively.