Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 USDL 08-1147
http://www.bls.gov/sae/
Unemployment: (202) 691-6392
http://www.bls.gov/lau/ For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, August 15, 2008
REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: JULY 2008
Regional and state unemployment rates were mostly higher in July.
Overall, 43 states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-
month unemployment rate increases, 6 states registered decreases, and
1 state had no change, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates were
up in 47 states and the District of Columbia and down in 3 states.
The national unemployment rate rose in July to 5.7 percent, a full
percentage point higher than a year earlier.
Between June 2008 and July 2008 nonfarm payroll employment increased
in 14 states and the District of Columbia, and decreased in 36 states.
The largest employment increases were recorded in Texas (+17,700), Ken-
tucky (+11,300), Kansas (+8,800), the District of Columbia (+6,700),
and Tennessee (+5,700). The District of Columbia posted the largest
over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+1.0 percent), fol-
lowed by South Dakota (+0.9 percent), Kansas and Kentucky (+0.6 percent
each), and North Dakota (+0.3 percent). The largest employment decreases
occurred in Florida (-21,400), Georgia (-18,900), Indiana (-16,500),
California (-14,900), and Arizona (-14,100). Alaska experienced the
largest over-the-month percentage decline in employment (-0.7 percent),
followed by Indiana (-0.6 percent), and Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, and
Utah (-0.5 percent each). Over the year, nonfarm employment increased
in 29 states and the District of Columbia, and decreased in 21 states.
The largest over-the-year percentage gains in employment were reported
in Texas (+2.4 percent), the District of Columbia (+2.3 percent), and
Wyoming (+2.2 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage declines
in employment occurred in Rhode Island (-2.6 percent), Arizona (-1.5
percent), Florida (-1.2 percent), and Michigan (-1.1 percent).
Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
In July, the Midwest and West regions again posted the highest
jobless rates, 6.5 and 6.3 percent, respectively. The Northeast and
South recorded the lowest unemployment rates, 5.3 and 5.5 percent,
respectively. The Midwest, South, and West registered statistically
significant rate changes from the previous month (+0.4 percentage
point each). All four regions reported significant jobless rate
increases from July 2007: the West (+1.6 percentage points), Midwest
(+1.3 points), South (+1.2 points), and Northeast (+0.8 point). (See
table 1.)
- 2 -
Among the nine geographic divisions, the East North Central
continued to post the highest unemployment rate, 7.1 percent in July,
followed by the Pacific, at 6.9 percent, and the East South Central,
at 6.6 percent. The West South Central again recorded the lowest
jobless rate, 4.6 percent. The Mountain registered the next lowest
rate, 4.9 percent. Seven divisions reported statistically significant
over-the-month unemployment rate changes, all increases: the East
South Central, South Atlantic, and West North Central (+0.5 percentage
point each); East North Central and Pacific (+0.4 point each); West
South Central (+0.3 point); and Mountain (+0.2 point). Over the year,
eight divisions had significant rate changes, all increases: the East
South Central (+1.9 percentage points), Pacific (+1.7 points), South
Atlantic (+1.6 points), East North Central (+1.5 points), Mountain
(+1.3 points), New England and West North Central (+0.9 point each),
and Middle Atlantic (+0.8 point).
State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
In July, Michigan continued to post the highest jobless rate,
8.5 percent. Six additional states recorded rates of 7.0 percent
or higher: Mississippi (7.9 percent), Rhode Island (7.7 percent),
California and Illinois (7.3 percent each), Ohio (7.2 percent), and
South Carolina (7.0 percent). South Dakota again logged the lowest
unemployment rate, 3.0 percent, followed by Nebraska, at 3.4 percent,
and North Dakota and Utah, at 3.5 percent each. Overall, 12 states
and the District of Columbia registered significantly higher jobless
rates than the U.S., 22 states reported measurably lower rates, and
16 states had rates little different from that of the nation. (See
tables A and 3.)
Mississippi and South Carolina posted the largest unemployment
rate increases from June to July (+0.9 percentage point each).
Eighteen more states and the District of Columbia also experienced
statistically significant rate increases. Two states, West Virginia
and Arkansas, recorded significant jobless rate decreases from the
prior month (-0.8 and -0.5 percentage point, respectively). The
remaining 28 states registered July unemployment rates that were not
appreciably different from those of a month earlier, though some had
changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant
changes. (See table B.)
Forty-three states and the District of Columbia had statistically
significant jobless rate increases from July 2007. Rhode Island re-
ported the largest rate increase (+2.7 percentage points), followed
by Tennessee (+2.3 points), Illinois (+2.2 points), and Florida (+2.0
points). Twenty-four other states and the District of Columbia posted
over-the-year rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more. Fifteen
additional states had smaller, but also statistically significant, rate
increases from July 2007. Arkansas experienced the only statistically
significant unemployment rate decrease (-1.0 percentage point). The
remaining six states recorded July 2008 jobless rates that were not
appreciably different from those of a year earlier. (See table C.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
Between June 2008 and July 2008, seven states and the District of
Columbia reported statistically significant changes in employment, four
of which were increases. The gains were in Kentucky (+11,300), Kansas
(+8,800), the District of Columbia (+6,700), and South Dakota (+3,800).
The employment losses were in Georgia (-18,900), Indiana (-16,500),
Arizona (-14,100), and Utah (-6,400). (See tables D and 5.)
- 3 -
Over the year, seven states posted statistically significant changes
in employment, three of which were job increases. The employment gains
occurred in Texas (+248,700), North Carolina (+38,300), and Colorado
(+30,800). The 4 statistically significant over-the-year declines were in
Florida (-96,800), Michigan (-48,700), Arizona (-41,300), and Rhode Island
(-13,000). (See table E.)
______________________________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for July
is scheduled to be issued on Wednesday, August 27. The Regional and
State Employment and Unemployment release for August is scheduled to
be issued on Friday, September 19.
__________________________________________________________________
| |
| Hurricane Katrina |
| |
| For July, BLS and its state partners continued to make modi- |
| fications to the usual estimation procedures for the LAUS pro- |
| gram to reflect the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the labor |
| force statistics in affected areas. These modifications includ- |
| ed: (1) modifying the state population controls to account for |
| displacement due to Katrina; (2) developing labor force esti- |
| mates for the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area |
| using an alternative to the model-based method; and (3) not pub- |
| lishing labor force estimates for the months immediately follow- |
| ing the hurricane for the parishes within the New Orleans- |
| Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area and cities within those par- |
| ishes, where the quality of input data was severely compromised |
| by the hurricane. |
| |
| For more information on LAUS procedures and estimates for |
| July 2008, see Hurricane Information: Katrina and Rita on the |
| BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/Katrina/home.htm or call |
| (202) 691-6392. |
| |
|__________________________________________________________________|
- 4 -
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly differ-
ent from that of the U.S., July 2008, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ................| 5.7
|
Alaska ...........................| 6.9
Arkansas .........................| 4.5
California .......................| 7.3
Delaware .........................| 4.4
District of Columbia .............| 6.7
Hawaii ...........................| 3.9
Idaho ............................| 4.1
Illinois .........................| 7.3
Iowa .............................| 4.3
Kansas ...........................| 4.6
|
Kentucky .........................| 6.7
Louisiana ........................| 3.9
Maryland .........................| 4.4
Michigan .........................| 8.5
Mississippi ......................| 7.9
Montana ..........................| 4.0
Nebraska .........................| 3.4
Nevada ...........................| 6.6
New Hampshire ....................| 3.9
New Mexico .......................| 4.1
|
North Carolina ...................| 6.6
North Dakota .....................| 3.5
Ohio .............................| 7.2
Oklahoma .........................| 4.1
Rhode Island .....................| 7.7
South Carolina ...................| 7.0
South Dakota .....................| 3.0
Tennessee ........................| 6.9
Texas ............................| 4.7
Utah .............................| 3.5
|
Vermont ..........................| 4.8
Virginia .........................| 4.4
West Virginia ....................| 4.5
Wisconsin ........................| 4.9
Wyoming ..........................| 3.6
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 Data are not preliminary.
p = preliminary.
- 5 -
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate
changes from June 2008 to July 2008, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|---------------------| Over-the-month
State | June | July | rate change(p)
| 2008 | 2008(p) |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 4.7 | 5.1 | 0.4
Arkansas .....................| 5.0 | 4.5 | -.5
California ...................| 7.0 | 7.3 | .3
District of Columbia .........| 6.3 | 6.7 | .4
Florida ......................| 5.5 | 6.1 | .6
Georgia ......................| 5.6 | 6.2 | .6
Idaho ........................| 3.8 | 4.1 | .3
Iowa .........................| 4.0 | 4.3 | .3
Kansas .......................| 4.3 | 4.6 | .3
Maryland .....................| 4.0 | 4.4 | .4
| | |
Minnesota ....................| 5.3 | 5.8 | .5
Mississippi ..................| 7.0 | 7.9 | .9
Missouri .....................| 5.7 | 6.4 | .7
Nevada .......................| 6.4 | 6.6 | .2
North Carolina ...............| 5.9 | 6.6 | .7
North Dakota .................| 3.2 | 3.5 | .3
Ohio .........................| 6.6 | 7.2 | .6
Oregon .......................| 5.5 | 6.0 | .5
South Carolina ...............| 6.1 | 7.0 | .9
Tennessee ....................| 6.5 | 6.9 | .4
| | |
Texas ........................| 4.4 | 4.7 | .3
Virginia .....................| 4.0 | 4.4 | .4
West Virginia ................| 5.3 | 4.5 | -.8
--------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
- 6 -
Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate
changes from July 2007 to July 2008, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|----------|----------| Over-the-year
State | July | July | rate change(p)
| 2007 | 2008(p) |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 3.6 | 5.1 | 1.5
Alaska .......................| 6.2 | 6.9 | .7
Arizona ......................| 3.7 | 5.1 | 1.4
Arkansas .....................| 5.5 | 4.5 | -1.0
California ...................| 5.4 | 7.3 | 1.9
Colorado .....................| 3.8 | 5.2 | 1.4
Connecticut ..................| 4.5 | 5.8 | 1.3
Delaware .....................| 3.3 | 4.4 | 1.1
District of Columbia .........| 5.7 | 6.7 | 1.0
Florida ......................| 4.1 | 6.1 | 2.0
| | |
Georgia ......................| 4.4 | 6.2 | 1.8
Hawaii .......................| 2.6 | 3.9 | 1.3
Idaho ........................| 2.7 | 4.1 | 1.4
Illinois .....................| 5.1 | 7.3 | 2.2
Indiana ......................| 4.4 | 6.3 | 1.9
Iowa .........................| 3.8 | 4.3 | .5
Kansas .......................| 4.1 | 4.6 | .5
Kentucky .....................| 5.5 | 6.7 | 1.2
Maine ........................| 4.8 | 5.4 | .6
Maryland .....................| 3.6 | 4.4 | .8
| | |
Massachusetts ................| 4.4 | 5.1 | .7
Michigan .....................| 7.1 | 8.5 | 1.4
Minnesota ....................| 4.5 | 5.8 | 1.3
Mississippi ..................| 6.4 | 7.9 | 1.5
Missouri .....................| 5.1 | 6.4 | 1.3
Montana ......................| 3.1 | 4.0 | .9
Nebraska .....................| 3.1 | 3.4 | .3
Nevada .......................| 4.8 | 6.6 | 1.8
New Hampshire ................| 3.5 | 3.9 | .4
New Jersey ...................| 4.2 | 5.4 | 1.2
| | |
New Mexico ...................| 3.5 | 4.1 | .6
New York .....................| 4.7 | 5.2 | .5
North Carolina ...............| 4.7 | 6.6 | 1.9
North Dakota .................| 3.2 | 3.5 | .3
Ohio .........................| 5.6 | 7.2 | 1.6
Oregon .......................| 5.3 | 6.0 | .7
Pennsylvania .................| 4.3 | 5.4 | 1.1
Rhode Island .................| 5.0 | 7.7 | 2.7
South Carolina ...............| 5.8 | 7.0 | 1.2
Tennessee ....................| 4.6 | 6.9 | 2.3
| | |
Texas ........................| 4.3 | 4.7 | .4
Utah .........................| 2.7 | 3.5 | .8
Vermont ......................| 3.8 | 4.8 | 1.0
Virginia .....................| 3.0 | 4.4 | 1.4
Washington ...................| 4.6 | 5.7 | 1.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
- 7 -
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
June 2008 to July 2008, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| June | July | Over-the-month
State | 2008 | 2008(p) | change(p)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | |
Arizona ......................| 2,639,100 | 2,625,000 | -14,100
District of Columbia .........| 704,600 | 711,300 | 6,700
Georgia ......................| 4,151,500 | 4,132,600 | -18,900
Indiana ......................| 2,986,500 | 2,970,000 | -16,500
Kansas .......................| 1,380,200 | 1,389,000 | 8,800
Kentucky .....................| 1,875,800 | 1,887,100 | 11,300
South Dakota .................| 410,400 | 414,200 | 3,800
Utah .........................| 1,265,400 | 1,259,000 | -6,400
| | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from
July 2007 to July 2008, seasonally adjusted
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| July | July | Over-the-year
State | 2007 | 2008(p) | change(p)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | |
Arizona ......................| 2,666,300 | 2,625,000 | -41,300
Colorado .....................| 2,334,900 | 2,365,700 | 30,800
Florida ......................| 8,020,800 | 7,924,000 | -96,800
Michigan .....................| 4,261,200 | 4,212,500 | -48,700
North Carolina ...............| 4,136,200 | 4,174,500 | 38,300
Rhode Island .................| 493,600 | 480,600 | -13,000
Texas ........................| 10,381,000| 10,629,700 | 248,700
| | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
