For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, January 24, 2017 USDL-17-0104
Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 * sminfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/sae
Unemployment: (202) 691-6392 * lausinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/lau
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- DECEMBER 2016
Unemployment rates were significantly lower in December in 10 states, higher in 1 state, and stable in 39 states
and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Eleven states had notable
jobless rate decreases from a year earlier, 2 states had increases, and 37 states and the District had no
significant change. The national unemployment rate, 4.7 percent, was little changed from November but 0.3
percentage point lower than in December 2015.
Nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 5 states in December 2016, increased in 3 states, and was essentially
unchanged in 42 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, 26 states and the District added nonfarm
payroll jobs, 2 states lost jobs, and 22 states were essentially unchanged.
Regional Unemployment
In December, no region had an unemployment rate significantly different from the U.S. rate of 4.7 percent. Over
the month, the Northeast and West had statistically significant unemployment rate changes (-0.1 percentage point
each). Significant over-the-year rate changes occurred in two regions: the West (-0.6 percentage point) and South
(-0.3 point). (See table 1.)
Among the nine geographic divisions, New England had the lowest unemployment rate, 3.5 percent in December,
followed by the West North Central and Mountain, 4.0 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively. The East South
Central had the highest rate, 5.4 percent, followed by the Middle Atlantic, 5.2 percent. Over the month, the
Pacific had the only statistically significant unemployment rate change (-0.2 percentage point). Four of the 9
divisions had significant jobless rate changes from a year earlier, all of which were declines. The largest of
these decreases occurred in New England (-1.2 percentage points).
State Unemployment
New Hampshire had the lowest unemployment rate in December, 2.6 percent, followed by Massachusetts and South
Dakota, 2.8 percent each. Alaska and New Mexico had the highest jobless rates, 6.7 percent and 6.6 percent,
respectively. In total, 19 states had unemployment rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 4.7 percent,
10 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 21 states had rates that were not appreciably
different from that of the nation. (See tables A and 3.)
In December, 10 states had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which occurred
in Oregon (-0.4 percentage point). The only notable rate increase occurred in Alabama (+0.3 percentage point).
The remaining 39 states and the District of Columbia had jobless rates that were not significantly 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.)
Eleven states had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases from December 2015, the largest of which
was in Massachusetts (-2.1 percentage points). The only significant unemployment rate increases over the year
occurred in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania (+0.9 percentage point each). (See table C.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Five states had statistically significant over-the-month decreases in nonfarm payroll employment and three states
had significant increases in December 2016. The largest decreases in employment over the month occurred in
Illinois (-16,700), West Virginia (-8,300), and Mississippi (-7,200). In percentage terms, the largest decrease
occurred in West Virginia (-1.1 percent), followed by North Dakota (-1.0 percent) and South Dakota (-0.7 percent).
The significant job gains occurred in Virginia (+14,100, or +0.4 percent), Minnesota (+11,900, or +0.4
percent), and Arizona (+8,400, or +0.3 percent). (See tables D and 5.)
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant over-the-year increases in nonfarm
payroll employment in December. The largest job gains occurred in California (+332,500), Florida (+251,400), and
Texas (+210,200). The largest percentage gains occurred in Oregon (+3.3 percent), Florida (+3.1 percent), and
Nevada and Washington (+3.0 percent each). Two states had significant over-the-year declines in employment:
Wyoming (-7,900, or -2.8 percent) and North Dakota (-7,800, or -1.8 percent). (See table E.)
_____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for December 2016 is scheduled to be released on
Wednesday, February 1, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. (EST). The Regional and State Unemployment 2016 Annual Averages news
release is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. (EST). The State Employment and
Unemployment news release for January 2017 is scheduled to be released on Monday, March 13, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.
(EDT).
____________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Upcoming News Release Content Changes |
| |
| Effective with the January 2017 issuance on Monday, March 13, 2017, this news |
| release will be renamed "State Employment and Unemployment." The Regional |
| Unemployment section of the summary will be omitted, as will the current table 1 |
| and table 2. State data tables will be renumbered 1 through 4 accordingly. The |
| purpose of these changes is to focus the analysis on the geography that is most |
| relevant to data users and for which both household and payroll estimates are |
| produced. Civilian labor force and unemployment data for the four census regions |
| and nine geographic divisions will continue to be available in the BLS time series |
| database and updated shortly after the release is issued. |
|____________________________________________________________________________________|
____________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Upcoming Changes to Local Area Unemployment Statistics Data |
| |
| Effective with the release of Regional and State Unemployment 2016 Annual Averages |
| on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, the civilian labor force and unemployment data for |
| regions, divisions, states, the District of Columbia, and the modeled substate |
| areas presented in tables 1-4 of this news release will be revised to incorporate |
| updated inputs, new population controls, reestimation of models, and adjustment |
| to new division and national control totals. Revised seasonal adjustment factors |
| will be applied to data in tables 1 and 3 as well. Both not seasonally adjusted |
| and seasonally adjusted data are subject to revision back to 2012. The new |
| population controls will reflect the annual updating of population estimates by |
| the U.S. Census Bureau. |
|____________________________________________________________________________________|
_______________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Upcoming Changes to Current Employment Statistics Data |
| |
| Effective with the release of January 2017 estimates on Monday, March 13, 2017, all |
| nonfarm payroll employment estimates for states and areas presented in tables 5 and 6 |
| of this news release will be adjusted to 2016 benchmark levels. Not seasonally |
| adjusted data beginning with April 2015 and seasonally adjusted data beginning with |
| January 2012 are subject to revision. Some seasonally adjusted series may be revised |
| back to 1990. |
|_______________________________________________________________________________________|
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., December 2016, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 4.7
|
Alabama .............................| 6.2
Alaska ..............................| 6.7
Arkansas ............................| 3.9
California ..........................| 5.2
Colorado ............................| 3.0
District of Columbia ................| 5.8
Georgia .............................| 5.4
Hawaii ..............................| 2.9
Idaho ...............................| 3.7
Illinois ............................| 5.7
|
Indiana .............................| 4.0
Iowa ................................| 3.6
Louisiana ...........................| 6.1
Maine ...............................| 3.8
Maryland ............................| 4.2
Massachusetts .......................| 2.8
Minnesota ...........................| 3.9
Mississippi .........................| 5.6
Montana .............................| 4.0
Nebraska ............................| 3.4
|
New Hampshire .......................| 2.6
New Mexico ..........................| 6.6
North Dakota ........................| 3.0
Pennsylvania ........................| 5.6
South Dakota ........................| 2.8
Utah ................................| 3.1
Vermont .............................| 3.1
Virginia ............................| 4.1
West Virginia .......................| 5.9
Wisconsin ...........................| 4.0
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 Data are not preliminary.
p = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from November 2016 to December 2016, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-month
State | November | December | change(p)
| 2016 | 2016(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................| 5.9 | 6.2 | 0.3
California .....................| 5.3 | 5.2 | -.1
Colorado .......................| 3.2 | 3.0 | -.2
Connecticut ....................| 4.7 | 4.4 | -.3
Iowa ...........................| 3.8 | 3.6 | -.2
Maine ..........................| 4.0 | 3.8 | -.2
Missouri .......................| 4.7 | 4.4 | -.3
New Jersey .....................| 5.0 | 4.7 | -.3
New York .......................| 5.1 | 4.9 | -.2
Oregon .........................| 5.0 | 4.6 | -.4
Vermont ........................| 3.2 | 3.1 | -.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from December 2015 to December 2016, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | December | December | change(p)
| 2015 | 2016(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona ........................| 5.9 | 4.8 | -1.1
Arkansas .......................| 4.7 | 3.9 | -.8
California .....................| 5.9 | 5.2 | -.7
Connecticut ....................| 5.4 | 4.4 | -1.0
Maryland .......................| 5.0 | 4.2 | -.8
Massachusetts ..................| 4.9 | 2.8 | -2.1
Mississippi ....................| 6.8 | 5.6 | -1.2
Nevada .........................| 6.3 | 5.1 | -1.2
Oklahoma .......................| 4.1 | 5.0 | .9
Oregon .........................| 5.5 | 4.6 | -.9
| | |
Pennsylvania ...................| 4.7 | 5.6 | .9
South Carolina .................| 5.5 | 4.3 | -1.2
Vermont ........................| 3.5 | 3.1 | -.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
November 2016 to December 2016, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-month change(p)
State | November | December |---------------------------
| 2016 | 2016(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona ......................| 2,708,600 | 2,717,000 | 8,400 | 0.3
Illinois .....................| 6,019,300 | 6,002,600 | -16,700 | -.3
Minnesota ....................| 2,907,400 | 2,919,300 | 11,900 | .4
Mississippi ..................| 1,140,800 | 1,133,600 | -7,200 | -.6
North Dakota .................| 441,500 | 436,900 | -4,600 | -1.0
South Dakota .................| 440,300 | 437,300 | -3,000 | -.7
Virginia .....................| 3,937,600 | 3,951,700 | 14,100 | .4
West Virginia ................| 772,000 | 763,700 | -8,300 | -1.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from
December 2015 to December 2016, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-year change(p)
State | December | December |---------------------------
| 2015 | 2016(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 1,957,500 | 1,976,200 | 18,700 | 1.0
Arizona ......................| 2,681,600 | 2,717,000 | 35,400 | 1.3
California ...................| 16,274,100 | 16,606,600 | 332,500 | 2.0
Colorado .....................| 2,578,600 | 2,627,400 | 48,800 | 1.9
District of Columbia .........| 768,100 | 785,600 | 17,500 | 2.3
Florida ......................| 8,211,500 | 8,462,900 | 251,400 | 3.1
Georgia ......................| 4,330,100 | 4,433,400 | 103,300 | 2.4
Hawaii .......................| 642,000 | 655,200 | 13,200 | 2.1
Idaho ........................| 687,400 | 700,700 | 13,300 | 1.9
Maryland .....................| 2,683,300 | 2,713,400 | 30,100 | 1.1
| | | |
Massachusetts ................| 3,515,400 | 3,590,400 | 75,000 | 2.1
Michigan .....................| 4,288,600 | 4,363,600 | 75,000 | 1.7
Minnesota ....................| 2,875,700 | 2,919,300 | 43,600 | 1.5
Missouri .....................| 2,783,300 | 2,847,800 | 64,500 | 2.3
Nevada .......................| 1,267,700 | 1,306,000 | 38,300 | 3.0
New Hampshire ................| 661,100 | 672,600 | 11,500 | 1.7
New York .....................| 9,298,400 | 9,413,100 | 114,700 | 1.2
North Carolina ...............| 4,275,000 | 4,360,200 | 85,200 | 2.0
North Dakota .................| 444,700 | 436,900 | -7,800 | -1.8
Ohio .........................| 5,475,400 | 5,517,200 | 41,800 | .8
| | | |
Oregon .......................| 1,803,700 | 1,863,100 | 59,400 | 3.3
South Carolina ...............| 2,035,200 | 2,070,100 | 34,900 | 1.7
Tennessee ....................| 2,941,200 | 2,989,500 | 48,300 | 1.6
Texas ........................| 11,931,100 | 12,141,300 | 210,200 | 1.8
Utah .........................| 1,398,100 | 1,437,100 | 39,000 | 2.8
Virginia .....................| 3,902,100 | 3,951,700 | 49,600 | 1.3
Washington ...................| 3,195,300 | 3,292,700 | 97,400 | 3.0
Wisconsin ....................| 2,904,100 | 2,932,800 | 28,700 | 1.0
Wyoming ......................| 286,600 | 278,700 | -7,900 | -2.8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
