Unemployment rates rose in March across all large metropolitan areas in the United States, marking the third consecutive month of job loss across the nation's cities. The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday that all 372 metropolitan areas it tracks recorded an increase in jobless rates from last year. The biggest increase was in an Indiana town, where the rate rose 13 percentage points to 18.8 percent. The second biggest increase was in Oregan, where the town of Bend saw a 9.2 percentage-point rise; the third biggest was in a North Carolina area that saw a 9.1 percentage-point rise to 15.4 percent. Unemployment continues to hit hard in California. The three metropolitan areas with the highest unemployment rates in the country are all in the massive West Coast state, which is also suffering from a huge deficit that has prompted massive spending cuts. The national unemployment rate rose to a 25-year high of 8.5 percent in March.
