March 22, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

2005-06 changes in State unemployment rates

Twenty-five States posted statistically significant unemployment rate decreases from 2005 to 2006; no State registered a significant rate increase over the year.

[Chart data—TXT]

The States with the largest rate declines were Louisiana (-2.7 percentage points), Illinois and Utah (-1.2 points each), New Mexico (-1.1 points), and Mississippi (-1.0 point). Twenty additional States reported significant over-the-year rate decreases, ranging from -0.4 to -0.9 percentage point.

The remaining 25 States and the District of Columbia recorded annual average unemployment rates for 2006 that were not appreciably different from those of 2005, even though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as those with statistically significant changes.

The annual average unemployment rate for the United States declined by one-half of a percentage point between 2005 and 2006.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. To learn more, see "Regional and State Unemployment, 2006 Annual Averages" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0305.

 

Related TED articles:

• States with highest unemployment rates in 2006
• Lowest State unemployment rates in 2006