Layoffs are rising: Here’s where Americans are experiencing the most job disruption
Layoffs are rising: Here’s where Americans are experiencing the most job disruption
It’s been more than five years since the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the U.S. unemployment rate seems to have settled down for the most part after an April 2020 high of nearly 15%.
After the rate hovered between 3% and 4% between 2022 and 2024, it has slightly increased since the start of 2025. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics has the nationwide rate at 4.6%. December 2025 saw more bad news, as the total number of layoffs reached one million for the first year since 2020.
Why Are Layoffs Increasing?
One of the primary reasons for the increase in layoffs has been the continued adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), with companies surveyed in a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas citing it as the cause of nearly 55,000 layoffs since January 2025. Another common reason for layoffs in 2025 was restructuring, which is a broad term that companies can use in numerous situations.
More reasons for the gradual increase in layoffs include economic uncertainty over tariffs, general macroeconomic conditions, and impacts from the Department of Government Efficiency cuts. DOGE alone is responsible for nearly 300,000 layoffs in 2025. PeopleFinders examines where people in the U.S. are experiencing the highest unemployment rate increases.
12 Locations Americans Are Experiencing the Most Job Disruption
Although the national unemployment rate has risen over the past year, some metropolitan areas are seeing decreased unemployment. Job markets are strong in Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama, and Nebraska, for instance.
Other areas are not as lucky. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more U.S. metros with a population of at least one million lost jobs between July 2024 and July 2025. Twelve of those large metros had unemployment rates increase by at least half a percentage point in that time span.
1. Cleveland, Ohio
Among the nation’s 56 largest metros, Cleveland saw the highest unemployment rate increase (0.8%) between July 2024 and July 2025. The rate today stands at around 5.2%. Manufacturing and hospitality jobs have taken a hit in the Cuyahoga region, and college graduates have found it more difficult to secure white-collar jobs.
2. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon-Washington
While Seattle’s unemployment rate held steady, its neighbor to the south, Portland, hasn’t been as fortunate. The rate increased by 0.7% between July 2024 and July 2025. Intel’s Portland-area facilities shed thousands of jobs in 2025; manufacturing (specifically semiconductors) was hit hard.
3. Columbus, Ohio
Ohio’s largest city, Columbus, was also affected by the recent uptick in unemployment. The decrease in leisure, hospitality, and goods-producing jobs accounted for much of the 0.7% increase.
4. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia
Cuts to the federal workforce—notably through DOGE—led to the DMV having the highest monthly unemployment increases during the first half of 2025. While the trend is starting to level off, the D.C. area still saw a 0.6% rise from July 2024 to July 2025.
5. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virgina-North Carolina
The story is much the same in Southeastern Virginia, where the unemployment rate also rose by 0.6%. The reduction in federal workers has also led to fewer jobs for government contractors, who make up a significant portion of the Virginia Beach area.
6. Memphis, Tennessee-Mississippi-Arkansas
On top of consistently high rates of violent crime, the Memphis metropolitan area is also experiencing an unemployment rate increase of around 0.6%. No clear reasons seem to exist for the surge, but some data suggest the region’s lack of high-paying jobs could be partially to blame.
7. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut
Although the unemployment rate in Connecticut is under 4%, the state’s largest metro has seen a rate increase of 0.6% from July 2024 to July 2025. Around 4.3% of Hartford’s workforce is currently unemployed.
8. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, California
California’s unemployment rate stands at 5.6%, which is the highest among all states and behind only Washington, D.C.’s rate of 6.2%. In addition to job cuts in the hospitality and entertainment industry, large tech companies are beginning to downsize in response to AI-related disruptions. Sacramento has felt this squeeze more than other areas, as shown by its unemployment rate increase of 0.5%.
9. Fresno, California
No other U.S. metro with at least 1 million residents had a higher unemployment rate in August 2025 than Fresno in California’s Central Valley. Between July 2024 and July 2025, the region’s rate increased by 0.5%, from 8.1% to 8.6%.
10. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California
Riverside’s rising unemployment (0.5%) shows that California’s job woes extend to every corner of the state. Construction and manufacturing accounted for many of the area’s losses.
11. Cincinnati, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana
Columbus and Cleveland are not the only large cities in Ohio with rising unemployment. Cincinnati’s diversified economy, however, has kept the rate increase at a relatively cool 0.5%.
12. Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, Michigan
Western Michigan experienced an increase of 0.5% between July 2024 and July 2025, but its current rate of 5.5% is still lower than Detroit’s unemployment rate of 5.7%. A contributing factor to Michigan’s relatively high jobless rate is the recent increase in unemployment benefits.
Should You Avoid Areas with Rising Unemployment?
While rising unemployment rates are seldom signs of strong economies, workers in some industries (such as healthcare and data science) are better insulated from mass layoffs. Trends don’t last forever, either; Florida’s historically low unemployment rate of 2.8% in early 2023 has crept up to 3.9% at the end of 2025, for instance.
On the other hand, regions with high unemployment often experience collateral consequences, such as low economic growth and elevated crime rates.
Even within regions with favorable economic conditions, cities, towns, and neighborhoods vary in their attractiveness. Job seekers have many variables to consider when weighing the pros and cons of relocation, not the least of which is the overall strength of companies extending job offers.
In this era of rising job scams, it’s also important to verify the identities of hiring managers with a people finder and run a reverse phone lookup on the number they’re calling from. Every reasonable measure to prevent scams is worth it in today’s economic climate.
This story was produced by PeopleFinders and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
