According to the August, 2008 Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these cities had the highest, meaning worst, unemployment rates in the U.S.

Which cities had the lowest/best unemployment rates?

• Sioux Falls, South Dakota at 2.6%
• Bismarck, North Dakota 2.8%
• Morgantown, West Virginia at 2.8%
• Rapid City, South Dakota at 2.8%

As for larger cities (Census 2000 with 1 million or more) with the lowest/best unemployment rates, those would be:

• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at 3.8%
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (DC-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia) at 4.1%

For a comparison, the national unemployment rate in August was 6.1%, not seasonally adjusted.

What cities were among the worst/highest unemployment?

• El Centro, CA at 24.7%
• Yuma, AZ at 22.7%

Mind you, the report looked at the month of August, when these two cities are pretty hot and unemployment is higher.

Large metropolitan areas with higher-than-average unemployment include:

• Los Angeles, California at 7.6%
• Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Illinois at 7.1%
• Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan at 8.8%
• Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada at 7.1%
• Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio at 7.4%

What does all this tell you?   Well, maybe you're looking for work in all the wrong places. 

You can get a rundown for all the areas of the United States by going to:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/metro.pdf