Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 USDL 08-1496
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 Tuesday, October 21, 2008
(NOTE: This release was reissued on Friday, October 24, 2008,
to correct Montana August 2008 total nonfarm, manufacturing, and
government payroll employment data. These data appear in tables
C, 5, and 6. Additionally, the analysis of employment data in
the text was revised to reflect these corrections. The correc-
tions did not affect any other tables in the release or the
analysis of unemployment data.)
REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT: SEPTEMBER 2008
Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed
in September but up substantially over the year. Overall, 21 states
and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate
increases, 23 states registered decreases, and 6 states 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 was un-
changed in September at 6.1 percent but was up from 4.7 percent a year
earlier.
In September, nonfarm payroll employment rose in 9 states and fell
in 41 states and the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-month
gains in the level of employment occurred in Missouri (+3,800), Nebraska
(+2,200), Wyoming (+1,800), West Virginia (+1,500), and Virginia (+1,300).
Wyoming experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in em-
ployment (+0.6 percent), followed by Nebraska and West Virginia (+0.2 per-
cent each) and Arkansas, Missouri, and North Dakota (+0.1 percent each).
The largest over-the-month employment level decreases occurred in Michigan
(-28,300), Georgia (-22,300), Louisiana (-17,500), South Carolina (-14,800),
and Arizona and Kentucky (-13,200 each). The District of Columbia (-1.2
percent) recorded the largest over-the-month percentage decrease in employ-
ment, followed by Louisiana (-0.9 percent), South Carolina (-0.8 percent),
and Idaho, Kentucky, and Michigan (-0.7 percent each). Over the year, non-
farm employment increased in 24 states and the District of Columbia and
decreased in 26 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increases
in employment occurred in Wyoming (+2.8 percent), Texas (+2.4 percent),
the District of Columbia (+2.0 percent), and South Dakota (+1.6 percent).
Rhode Island recorded the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in
employment (-2.6 percent), followed by Arizona (-2.2 percent), Michigan
(-1.8 percent), Georgia (-1.5 percent), Florida (-1.4 percent), and Idaho
(-1.2 percent).
Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
In September, the West and Midwest regions posted the highest jobless
rates, 6.6 and 6.5 percent, respectively. The Northeast and South re-
corded the lowest unemployment rates, 5.7 and 5.9 percent, respectively.
No region registered a statistically significant unemployment rate change
from the previous month. In contrast, all four regions reported signifi-
cant jobless rate increases from September 2007: the West (+1.8 percent-
age points), South (+1.5 points), Northeast (+1.3 points), and Midwest
(+1.2 points). (See table 1.)
- 2 -
Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific and East North Central
reported the highest unemployment rates in September, 7.2 and 7.0 percent,
respectively. The West South Central again recorded the lowest jobless
rate, 5.1 percent, followed closely by the Mountain and West North Central,
at 5.2 percent each. No division reported a statistically significant over-
the-month unemployment rate change. Over the year, however, all nine divi-
sions had significant rate increases: the East South Central, Pacific, and
South Atlantic (+1.8 percentage points each); Mountain (+1.5 points); East
North Central and New England (+1.3 points each); Middle Atlantic (+1.2
points); West North Central (+0.8 point); and West South Central (+0.7
point).
State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
In September, Rhode Island and Michigan posted the highest jobless rates,
8.8 and 8.7 percent, respectively. Eight additional states recorded rates
of 7.0 percent or more: Mississippi, 7.8 percent; California, 7.7 percent;
Nevada and South Carolina, 7.3 percent each; Ohio and Tennessee, 7.2 per-
cent each; Kentucky, 7.1 percent; and North Carolina, 7.0 percent. The
District of Columbia also had a rate of 7.0 percent. South Dakota again
registered the lowest unemployment rate, 3.2 percent, followed by Wyoming,
at 3.3 percent, Nebraska and Utah, at 3.5 percent each, North Dakota, at
3.6 percent, and Oklahoma, at 3.8 percent. Overall, 11 states recorded
significantly higher jobless rates than the U.S. figure of 6.1 percent, 23
states reported measurably lower rates, and 16 states and the District of
Columbia had rates little different from that of the nation. (See tables A
and 3.)
Six states reported statistically significant over-the-month jobless
rate increases in September: Tennessee (+0.6 percentage point), Idaho
(+0.4 point), Hawaii (+0.3 point), Montana and Nevada (+0.2 point each),
and Texas (+0.1 point). Four states had statistically significant unem-
ployment rate decreases between August and September: New Mexico and
Wyoming (-0.6 percentage point each) and Iowa and Virginia (-0.3 point
each). The remaining 40 states and the District of Columbia registered
September unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from
those of a month earlier, even though some had changes that were at least
as large numerically as the significant changes.
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia had statistically signi-
ficant jobless rate increases from September 2007. Rhode Island reported
the largest rate increase (+3.7 percentage points) from a year earlier.
The states with the next largest rate increases were Florida (+2.4 points);
Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, and Tennessee (+2.3 points each); Arizona and
California (+2.1 points each); and Georgia (+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, and 12 additional states had smaller, but also
statistically significant, rate increases from September 2007. Two states
experienced statistically significant unemployment rate decreases from a year
earlier--Arkansas (-0.6 percentage point) and Oklahoma (-0.5 point). The re-
maining three states recorded September 2008 jobless rates that were not ap-
preciably different from those of a year earlier. (See table B.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
Between August and September 2008, 10 states and the District of Columbia
registered statistically significant changes in employment, all of which were
decreases. The statistically significant job losses occurred in Michigan
(-28,300), Georgia (-22,300), Louisiana (-17,500), South Carolina (-14,800),
Arizona and Kentucky (-13,200 each), Washington (-12,900), Wisconsin (-12,400),
the District of Columbia (-8,500), Oregon (-7,300), and Idaho (-4,900). (See
tables C and 5.)
- 3 -
Over the year, eight states experienced statistically significant changes
in employment. The largest statistically significant job gain occurred in
Texas (+247,900), followed by Nebraska (+12,800) and Wyoming (+8,200). The sta-
tistically significant over-the-year decreases occurred in Florida (-115,500),
Michigan (-77,900), Georgia (-61,100), Arizona (-59,200), and Rhode Island
(-12,600). (See table D.)
______________________________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for September is
scheduled to be issued on Wednesday, October 29. The Regional and State Employ-
ment and Unemployment release for October is scheduled to be issued on Friday,
November 21.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Recent Tropical Storms |
| |
| Hurricane Ike struck the east coast of Texas and portions of coastal |
|Louisiana on September 13th in the midst of the establishment survey re- |
|ference period. For the weather conditions to have affected payroll em- |
|ployment, people would have had to be off work for the entire pay period |
|and not paid for the time missed. Therefore, it is unlikely the storm |
|had substantial effects on the state employment estimates. |
| |
| In the Current Population Survey of households, which provides inputs |
|for the model-based estimation of labor force and unemployment for the |
|areas included in this release, people who miss work for weather-related |
|events are counted as employed whether or not they are paid for the time |
|off. |
| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Hurricane Katrina |
| |
| For September, BLS and its state partners continued to make modifica- |
|tions to the usual estimation procedures for the LAUS program to reflect |
|the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the labor force statistics in affected|
|areas. These modifications included: (1) modifying the state population|
|controls to account for displacement due to Katrina; (2) developing labor|
|force estimates for the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area |
|using an alternative to the model-based method; and (3) not publishing |
|labor force estimates for the months immediately following the hurricane |
|for the parishes within the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area|
|and cities within those parishes, where the quality of input data was |
|severely compromised by the hurricane. |
| |
| For more information on LAUS procedures and estimates for September |
|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., September 2008, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 6.1
|
Arkansas ............................| 4.9
California ..........................| 7.7
Colorado ............................| 5.2
Delaware ............................| 4.8
Hawaii ..............................| 4.5
Idaho ...............................| 5.0
Illinois ............................| 6.9
Iowa ................................| 4.2
Kansas ..............................| 4.8
Kentucky ............................| 7.1
|
Maryland ............................| 4.6
Massachusetts .......................| 5.3
Michigan ............................| 8.7
Mississippi .........................| 7.8
Montana .............................| 4.6
Nebraska ............................| 3.5
Nevada ..............................| 7.3
New Hampshire .......................| 4.1
New Mexico ..........................| 4.0
North Carolina ......................| 7.0
|
North Dakota ........................| 3.6
Ohio ................................| 7.2
Oklahoma ............................| 3.8
Rhode Island ........................| 8.8
South Carolina ......................| 7.3
South Dakota ........................| 3.2
Tennessee ...........................| 7.2
Texas ...............................| 5.1
Utah ................................| 3.5
Vermont .............................| 5.2
|
Virginia ............................| 4.3
West Virginia .......................| 4.5
Wisconsin ...........................| 5.0
Wyoming .............................| 3.3
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 Data are not preliminary.
p = preliminary.
- 5 -
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from September 2007 to September 2008, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | September | September | rate change(p)
| 2007 | 2008(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................| 3.5 | 5.3 | 1.8
Alaska .........................| 6.3 | 6.8 | .5
Arizona ........................| 3.8 | 5.9 | 2.1
Arkansas .......................| 5.5 | 4.9 | -.6
California .....................| 5.6 | 7.7 | 2.1
Colorado .......................| 4.0 | 5.2 | 1.2
Connecticut ....................| 4.6 | 6.1 | 1.5
Delaware .......................| 3.3 | 4.8 | 1.5
District of Columbia ...........| 5.7 | 7.0 | 1.3
Florida ........................| 4.2 | 6.6 | 2.4
| | |
Georgia ........................| 4.5 | 6.5 | 2.0
Hawaii .........................| 2.8 | 4.5 | 1.7
Idaho ..........................| 2.7 | 5.0 | 2.3
Illinois .......................| 5.2 | 6.9 | 1.7
Indiana ........................| 4.5 | 6.2 | 1.7
Iowa ...........................| 3.8 | 4.2 | .4
Kansas .........................| 4.0 | 4.8 | .8
Kentucky .......................| 5.4 | 7.1 | 1.7
Louisiana ......................| 3.9 | 5.2 | 1.3
Maine ..........................| 4.9 | 5.6 | .7
| | |
Maryland .......................| 3.6 | 4.6 | 1.0
Massachusetts ..................| 4.4 | 5.3 | .9
Michigan .......................| 7.3 | 8.7 | 1.4
Minnesota ......................| 4.6 | 5.9 | 1.3
Mississippi ....................| 6.3 | 7.8 | 1.5
Missouri .......................| 5.3 | 6.4 | 1.1
Montana ........................| 3.2 | 4.6 | 1.4
Nebraska .......................| 3.1 | 3.5 | .4
Nevada .........................| 5.0 | 7.3 | 2.3
New Hampshire ..................| 3.4 | 4.1 | .7
| | |
New Jersey .....................| 4.2 | 5.8 | 1.6
New Mexico .....................| 3.4 | 4.0 | .6
New York .......................| 4.5 | 5.8 | 1.3
North Carolina .................| 4.7 | 7.0 | 2.3
North Dakota ...................| 3.3 | 3.6 | .3
Ohio ...........................| 5.7 | 7.2 | 1.5
Oklahoma .......................| 4.3 | 3.8 | -.5
Oregon .........................| 5.3 | 6.4 | 1.1
Pennsylvania ...................| 4.4 | 5.7 | 1.3
Rhode Island ...................| 5.1 | 8.8 | 3.7
| | |
South Carolina .................| 5.9 | 7.3 | 1.4
South Dakota ...................| 2.9 | 3.2 | .3
Tennessee ......................| 4.9 | 7.2 | 2.3
Texas ..........................| 4.3 | 5.1 | .8
Utah ...........................| 2.8 | 3.5 | .7
Vermont ........................| 3.9 | 5.2 | 1.3
Virginia .......................| 3.1 | 4.3 | 1.2
Washington .....................| 4.6 | 5.8 | 1.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
- 6 -
Table C. States with statistically significant employment changes from
August 2008 to September 2008, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| August | September | Over-the-month
State | 2008 | 2008(p) | change(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona.......................| 2,624,700 | 2,611,500 | -13,200
District of Columbia..........| 716,300 | 707,800 | -8,500
Georgia.......................| 4,115,100 | 4,092,800 | -22,300
Idaho.........................| 653,900 | 649,000 | -4,900
Kentucky......................| 1,877,400 | 1,864,200 | -13,200
Louisiana.....................| 1,956,800 | 1,939,300 | -17,500
Michigan......................| 4,199,900 | 4,171,600 | -28,300
Oregon........................| 1,729,400 | 1,722,100 | -7,300
South Carolina................| 1,960,800 | 1,946,000 | -14,800
Washington....................| 2,971,300 | 2,958,400 | -12,900
Wisconsin.....................| 2,874,400 | 2,862,000 | -12,400
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
September 2007 to September 2008, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| September | September | Over-the-year
State | 2007 | 2008(p) | change(p)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona.......................| 2,670,700 | 2,611,500 | -59,200
Florida.......................| 8,014,500 | 7,899,000 | -115,500
Georgia.......................| 4,153,900 | 4,092,800 | -61,100
Michigan......................| 4,249,500 | 4,171,600 | -77,900
Nebraska......................| 965,800 | 978,600 | 12,800
Rhode Island..................| 490,800 | 478,200 | -12,600
Texas.........................| 10,394,700 | 10,642,600 | 247,900
Wyoming.......................| 290,100 | 298,300 | 8,200
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
