The Oklahoma City OK metropolitan area registered the lowest unemployment rate, 6.0%, for the second month in a row among U.S. metropolitan areas with populations of 1 million or more in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The Washington DC-Arlington VA-Alexandria VA area ranked second at 6.6%.

The Detroit area again posted the highest jobless rate among large metropolitan areas with a jobless rate of 17.1% in June. It was followed by the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area in Southern California at 13.7%.

Among metropolitan areas of all sizes, the Bismarck ND area posted the lowest jobless rate in June at 3.8%. The El Centro CA area posted the highest at 27.5%.

In June, the BLS resumed publication of payroll employment data for 65 small metropolitan areas that had been dropped in March 2008.