Best and Worst Cities and Fields to Snag a Job

So, the unemployment rate ticked up a notch from 9.5 to 9.6. The government laid off 121,000 people -- mostly temporary Census workers -- while the private-sector added 67,000 new jobs. That still leaves about 14.9 million people unemployed -- one in ten, to be exact. More than the entire population of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago combined.

The stock market actually rose on that news, with some analysts seeing it as a positive sign that the job loss numbers weren't higher. Still, unemployment rates were higher in July than a year earlier in 192 of the 372 metropolitan areas, and lower in only 170 areas. They were unchanged in 10 areas, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Seventeen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while only 6 areas registered rates below 5.0 percent.