Jobless rates by area -- 3.3% up to 20.7%

The unemployment rate in Lincoln, Neb., has increased by a full percentage point during the last year, but the latest reported rate of 3.3 percent is still the lowest for a metropolitan area in the United States, reports the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, Lafayette, La., at 3.4 percent, has the second-lowest rate, with Stamford, Conn., coming in third at 3.6 percent.

Flint, Mich., where the recession has hit hard, especially in the auto industry, has the highest unemployment rate among metropolitan areas, at 20.7 percent. Evansville, Ind., has 20 percen, while Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, ranks third at 19.6 percent unemployment -- showing a massive one-month jump from July's 7 percent, because of layoffs in farm machinery manufacturing.