Unemployment rate drops in Miami

The local unemployment rate fell by 1.2 percentage points in February to 2.2%, per new Labor Department data.

Why it matters: Looking at only the national unemployment rate can hide significant disparities between thriving and struggling cities.

By the numbers: Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.5% as of March — down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, and down 0.1 percentage point year over year.

• As of February — the latest month with available city-level data — unemployment was below 3% in a handful of major U.S. metro areas, including Miami (2.2%), Minneapolis (2.4%) and Tampa (2.5%).
• But it was above 4% in other major cities, including in Las Vegas (5.7%), Chicago (4.4%) and Houston (4.3%).

Zoom in: Miami, New Orleans and Philadelphia have all seen a particularly noteworthy drop in unemployment, with rates falling by more than a percentage point between February 2022 and February 2023.

What's next: The Fed is keeping a close eye on employment levels as a measure of the economy's overall temperature.