Unemployment rates fell in three-quarters of large U.S. cities in November, making it the second consecutive month of declines for most major markets and suggesting modest improvement in the job market, a government report showed Wednesday. The Labor Department said that unemployment rates fell in 277 metro areas, they rose in 71, and were unchanged in 29. In October, 291 cities reported having lower unemployment rates, the most in seven months. The metro area unemployment data can be volatile because they are not adjusted for seasonal variations, such as hiring for the winter holiday. Nationwide, the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, reaching the lowest level in over two years. Meanwhile, employers added about 120,000 jobs. Still, a big reason the unemployment rate fell was because more people said they have given up on their job searches and dropped out of the work force.
