The Phoenix area had the lowest jobless rate among all large metropolitan areas in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The unemployment rate in Phoenix was 2.9% in September. The Richmond VA, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News VA, and Washington DC areas had the next lowest unemployment rates at 3.0% each.

Detroit had the highest unemployment rate among all large metropolitan areas at 7.7%, followed by the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA area at 6.1%.

Idaho Falls ID again had the lowest unemployment rate among all metropolitan areas at 1.3%. El Centro CA had the highest unemployment rate at 20.8%.