May 2011: The 10 Best (and Worst) Cities for Finding a Job

April showers did not bring May flowers for many cities this month in terms of job growth, as 90% of the cities on our list either saw a decline in job activity or had no change in per capita hiring. On the upside, Riverside, Calif., saw the biggest employment gain (+9%), being the worst city to find a job on our list. Nashville and Houston also saw an uptick in hiring in May.

To determine the cities with the 10 best and worst job markets each month, the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Index surveys 30 different major metro areas across the U.S. for per capita job availability. Rather than simply reporting the cities with the most and least jobs, the Index measures the number of job openings relative to population. This gives a more complete picture of how easy (or difficult) it is to get a new job in each metro area.

Want to know where the jobs are? If you're planning on a move soon, your best bet would be to check out the top 10 best cities for finding a job today: