C.R. metro unemployment average unchanged in 2011

The unemployment rate in Cedar Rapids metro area for 2011 remained much the same as in 2010.

Iowa Workforce Development released year-end unemployment statistics on Tuesday. The year 2011 began with an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent for the three-county Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area and ended with a rate of 6 percent.

That pattern was very similar to that of 2010, when the year began with a rate of 6.8 percent, and ended with a rate of 6.2 percent.

Both years saw unemployment rates dip in midyear, hitting a low of 5.4 percent in November 2011 and a low of 5.6 percent in October 2010.

Resident unemployment averaged 9,000 in 2010 and averaged 8,900 in 2011. Resident employment averaged 139,000 in 2010 and 139,100 in 2011.

Cedar Rapids is Iowa's largest manufacturing center, making it one of the most important sectors of the economy.

Manufacturing employment in Cedar Rapids averaged 20,400 in 2010 and 20,600 in 2011.