March 03, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

South Dakota had lowest unemployment rate again in 2003

Among the States, South Dakota posted the lowest annual average unemployment rate for 2003, 3.6 percent. South Dakota also had posted the lowest State unemployment rate in 2002.

States with the lowest unemployment rates, and U.S. unemployment rate, 2003
[Chart data—TXT]

Nebraska and North Dakota had the next lowest rates, at 4.0 percent in both cases.

Overall, 32 states had unemployment rates below the national average of 6.0 percent in 2003. All seven states in the West North Central division and all six in New England posted rates below that of the Nation.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. To learn more, see State and Regional Unemployment, 2003 Annual Averages (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-289. 

 

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