From San Diego to Cleveland, the Best Cities for Jobs in 2011

The newest unemployment numbers show a slight improvement in the nation’s unemployment rate. Americans now may have some small hope that the Great Recession might be coming to an end. But which cities are leading the comeback?

To find out, The Daily Beast considered the change in unemployment from September 2010 to September 2011 and the change in employment—to factor in overall job creation—from September 2010 to September 2011 (both with data from the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In addition to the change from last year, we wanted to consider what the economic future holds for the fourth quarter of 2011. Using data from the Manpower Economic Outlook Survey, which surveyed 18,000 employers across the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country, we included the net job growth percentage for each metro area. Job growth was calculated by Manpower based on the percent of employers expecting to add jobs subtracted from the percent of employers expecting to cut jobs.

The list recognizes the cities with the most improvement. Riverside, Calif., for instance, has an unemployment rate of 13.4 percent, several points higher than the national average, but things are getting better, as unemployment there is down more than 1 percent over the past year.

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Total labor force: 807,358

Unemployment rate: 7.6%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +6%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.2%

Christopher Zaborsky / Getty Images

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Total labor force: 1,568,600

Unemployment rate: 9.7%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +4%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.6%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.8%

Getty Images

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Total labor force: 327,250

Unemployment rate: 9.2%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +9%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +.3%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.9%

Henryk Sadura / Getty Images

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Total labor force: 542,047

Unemployment rate: 6.9%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +12%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +.1%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.8%

Melanie Stetson Freeman / Getty Images

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Total labor force: 1,753,766

Unemployment rate: 13.4%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +2%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.3%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.2%

Getty Images

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Total labor force: 1,131,677

Unemployment rate: 10.2%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +2%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.3%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.4%

Getty Images

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Total labor force: 316,175

Unemployment rate: 7.9%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +7%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.6%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.5%

Getty Images

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Total labor force: 428,098

Unemployment rate: 10.1%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +6%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.4%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.8%

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Total labor force: 299,558

Unemployment rate*: 11%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +5%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011*: +.6%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.7%

*Employment data is for the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota MSA

Getty Images

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Total labor force: 316,487

Unemployment rate: 8.7%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +6%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.6%

Brett Flashnick / AP Photo

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Total labor force: 2,917,872

Unemployment rate: 10.6%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +4%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.1%

AP Photo

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Total labor force: 489,558

Unemployment rate: 8%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +10%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +.5%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.9%

Ross D. Franklin / AP Photo

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Total labor force: 2,236,603

Unemployment rate: 9.2%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +8%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +.8%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1%

Getty Images

galleries/2011/11/04/from-san-diego-to-cleveland-the-best-cities-for-jobs-in-2011-photos/comeback-cities-employment-gal-omaha_cqebsd

Total labor force: 451,519

Unemployment rate: 4.4%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +7%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2.4%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.4%

John Coletti / Getty Images

galleries/2011/11/04/from-san-diego-to-cleveland-the-best-cities-for-jobs-in-2011-photos/comeback-cities-employment-gal-phoenix_isv5ih

Total labor force: 2,116,722

Unemployment rate: 8.1%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +11%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +.4%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1%

Joshua Lott / Getty Images

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Total labor force: 1,045,087

Unemployment rate: 8.2%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +7%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.7%

Barry Howe / Corbis

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Total labor force: 1,388,412

Unemployment rate: 7.8%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +9%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.4%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.8%

Corbis

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Total labor force: 692,714

Unemployment rate: 10%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +8%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.2%

Henryk Sadura / Corbis

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Total labor force: 2,540,869

Unemployment rate: 6.6%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +9%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1%

Dermot Conlan, PPSOP / Corbis

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Total labor force: 433,765

Unemployment rate: 6.4%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +13%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +.4%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.1%

Alan Copson / Corbis

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Total labor force: 256,494

Unemployment rate: 10.8%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +2%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2.3%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.4%

Mary Ann Anderson / Getty Images

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Total labor force: 1,192,076

Unemployment rate: 8.4%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +3%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.5%

Gary J Weathers / Corbis

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Total labor force: 1,321,386

Unemployment rate: 10.8%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +5%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2.1%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.4%

Leslie Richard Jacobs / Corbis

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Total labor force: 914,561

Unemployment rate: 9.6%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +5%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +3.1%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.4%

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Total labor force: 296,049

Unemployment rate: 8.5%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +12%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +1.9%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.9%

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Total labor force: 384,520

Unemployment rate: 7.9%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +11%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: 1.2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.8%

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Total labor force: 1,457,117

Unemployment rate: 8.7%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +13%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2.8%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -.9%

Henryk Sadura / Corbis

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Total labor force: 298,413

Unemployment rate: 7.7%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +10%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2.4%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.3%

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Total labor force: 1,090,257

Unemployment rate: 7.6%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +10%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2.2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -1.5%

James Blank / Corbis

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Total labor force: 274,867

Unemployment rate: 11.2%

Net employment outlook, Q4 2011: +16%

Employment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: +2%

Unemployment change, Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011: -2%

Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor / Getty Images

From San Diego to Cleveland, the Best Cities for Jobs in 2011

The Daily Beast finds the 30 best cities for jobs this year.

The Daily Beast