Unemployment rates in all 20 Florida metropolitan areas decreased during the month of October, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report (.pdf) adds that the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall metropolitan division, with a drop of 2.4 percentage points, “shows the largest rate decline from a year earlier.”

The Bureau reported Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent, with 120,000 new jobs added in November, while “the number of unemployed persons, at 13.3 million, was down by 594,000 in November.”

Bureau data released today show that unemployment rates for Florida metropolitan areas were higher than the national average. This includes the four largest employment centers in Florida.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metropolitan area jobless rate stood at 10 percent during October (292,000 unemployed). Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater had an October jobless rate of 10.3 percent (135,000 unemployed). The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area had a 9.8 percent jobless rate (almost 110,000 unemployed workers) and the Jacksonville metro area had a 9.6 unemployment rate (more than 66,000 unemployed workers).

According to Metro Trends at the Urban Institute, ”while the Great Recession and sluggish recovery have meant sustained high unemployment in metros nationwide, those in states hardest hit by the housing crisis, such as Florida, Nevada, and California, have suffered the most.”

A February report issued by the Urban Institute indicates that “metros as diverse as Detroit, Providence, Los Angeles, and Tampa are in the grip of ‘double trouble’—big house price declines coupled with severe job losses.”

The report adds that 29 urban areas are suffering from “double trouble,” including several in Florida.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s latest jobs reports shows that the state’s unemployment rate fell to 10.3 percent during the month of October. The state’s hospitality industry, which has a strong presence in metropolitan areas like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Kissimmee, has shown high job growth through 2011.

Jay Mehta, a community organizer for UNITE/HERE Local 355 in South Florida, tells The Florida Independent that “there is job growth, we definitely see that, but we get calls from people who see such a stark difference in union wages from non-union wages.”