For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Friday, November 20, 2020 USDL-20-2132
Technical information:
Employment: sminfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/sae
Unemployment: lausinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/lau
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- OCTOBER 2020
Unemployment rates were lower in October in 37 states and the District of
Columbia, higher in 8 states, and stable in 5 states, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-seven states and the District had
jobless rate increases from a year earlier and three states had little or
no change. The national unemployment rate declined by 1.0 percentage point
over the month to 6.9 percent but was 3.3 points higher than in October 2019.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states, decreased in 2 states, and
was essentially unchanged in 16 states and the District of Columbia in October
2020. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 48 states and the
District and was essentially unchanged in 2 states.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly programs. The civilian
labor force and unemployment data are modeled based largely on a survey of
households. These data pertain to individuals by where they reside. The
employment data are from an establishment survey that measures nonfarm
employment, hours, and earnings by industry. These data pertain to jobs on
payrolls defined by where the establishments are located. For more information
about the concepts and statistical methodologies used by these two programs,
see the Technical Note.
Unemployment
Hawaii had the highest unemployment rate in October, 14.3 percent, followed by
Nevada, 12.0 percent. Nebraska and Vermont had the lowest rates, 3.0 percent and
3.2 percent, respectively. In total, 26 states had jobless rates lower than the
U.S. figure of 6.9 percent, 9 states and the District of Columbia had higher
rates, and 15 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of
the nation. (See tables A and 1.)
In October, the largest unemployment rate decreases occurred in Illinois (-3.6
percentage points) and Rhode Island (-3.5 points). Rates declined over the month
by at least 2.0 percentage points in an additional six states. The largest over-
the-month jobless rate increase occurred in Kentucky (+1.8 percentage points).
(See table B.)
Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate increases
from October 2019, the largest of which occurred in Hawaii (+11.6 percentage
points) and Nevada (+8.3 points). (See table C.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states, decreased in 2 states, and
was essentially unchanged in 16 states and the District of Columbia in October
2020. The largest job gains occurred in California (+145,500), Texas (+118,100),
and Florida (+51,600). The largest percentage increases occurred in Alaska (+2.9
percent), Hawaii (+2.0 percent), and Louisiana and Wyoming (+1.2 percent each).
Employment decreased in Wisconsin (-14,700, or -0.5 percent) and New Hampshire
(-3,700, or -0.6 percent). (See tables D and 3.)
Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 48 states and the District
of Columbia and was essentially unchanged in 2 states. The largest job declines
occurred in California (-1,369,400), New York (-1,015,500), and Texas (-499,200).
The largest percentage declines occurred in Hawaii (-17.3 percent), New York
(-10.4 percent), and Vermont (-9.3 percent). (See table E.)
_____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for October
is scheduled to be released on Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
The State Employment and Unemployment news release for November is scheduled
to be released on Friday, December 18, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
___________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on October 2020 |
| Establishment and Household Survey Data |
| |
| BLS has continued to review all estimation and methodological procedures for the |
| establishment survey, which included the review of data, estimation processes, |
| the application of the birth-death model, and seasonal adjustment. Business |
| births and deaths cannot be adequately captured by the establishment survey as |
| they occur. Therefore, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program uses a |
| model to account for the relatively stable net employment change generated by |
| business births and deaths. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the relationship |
| between business births and deaths is no longer stable. Typically, reports with |
| zero employment are not included in estimation. For the September final and |
| October preliminary estimates, CES included a portion of these reports in the |
| estimates and made modifications to the birth-death model. In addition for both |
| months, the establishment survey included a portion of the reports that returned |
| to reporting positive employment from reporting zero employment. For more |
| information, see www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbd.htm. |
| |
| In the establishment survey, workers who are paid by their employer for all or |
| any part of the pay period including the 12th of the month are counted as |
| employed, even if they were not actually at their jobs. Workers who are |
| temporarily or permanently absent from their jobs and are not being paid are not |
| counted as employed, even if they are continuing to receive benefits. The length |
| of the reference period does vary across the respondents in the establishment |
| survey; one-third of businesses have a weekly pay period, slightly over 40 |
| percent a bi-weekly, about 20 percent semi-monthly, and a small amount monthly. |
| |
| For the October 2020 estimates of household employment and unemployment from the |
| Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, BLS continued to implement |
| level-shift outliers in the employment and/or unemployment inputs to the models, |
| based on statistical evaluation of movements in each area's inputs. Both the |
| Current Population Survey inputs, which serve as the primary inputs to the LAUS |
| models, and the nonfarm payroll employment and unemployment insurance claims |
| covariates were examined for outliers. The resulting implementation of level |
| shifts preserved movements in the published estimates that the models otherwise |
| would have discounted, without requiring changes to how the models create |
| estimates at other points in the time series. |
| |
| To mitigate distortions due to the complex relationships between level shifts in |
| the household survey and covariate inputs to the state models, BLS retained the |
| same modifications to the LAUS seasonal adjustment and smoothing procedures that |
| had been introduced during the May 2020 cycle. Specifically, level shifts were |
| isolated from the estimation of seasonal factors, and the Reproducing Kernel |
| Hilbert Space filter was not used to smooth the seasonally adjusted estimates. |
| It is anticipated that these modifications will be necessary for as long as |
| complex outlier treatments are deemed necessary for the model inputs. |
| |
| The "Frequently asked questions" document at |
| www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-october-2020.htm |
| extensively discusses the impact of a misclassification in the household survey |
| on the national estimates for October 2020. Despite the considerable decline in |
| its degree relative to prior months, this misclassification continued to be |
| widespread geographically, with BLS analysis indicating that most states again |
| were affected to at least some extent. However, according to usual practice, the |
| data from the household survey are accepted as recorded. To maintain data |
| integrity, no ad hoc actions are taken to reclassify survey responses. Hence, |
| the household survey estimates of employed and unemployed people that serve as |
| the primary inputs to the state models were affected to varying degrees by the |
| misclassification, which in turn affected the official LAUS estimates for October |
| 2020. |
| |
| Household data for Puerto Rico are not modeled, but rather are derived from a |
| monthly household survey similar to the Current Population Survey. Due to the |
| effects of the pandemic and efforts to contain the virus, Puerto Rico had not |
| been able to conduct its household survey for March or April 2020. Since data |
| collection resumed effective May 2020, the Puerto Rico Department of Labor has |
| reported a misclassification in its household survey similar in nature to the |
| misclassification in the Current Population Survey. |
|___________________________________________________________________________________|
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., October 2020, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 6.9
|
Alabama .............................| 5.8
Alaska ..............................| 5.9
Arizona .............................| 8.0
California ..........................| 9.3
Delaware ............................| 5.6
District of Columbia ................| 8.2
Georgia .............................| 4.5
Hawaii ..............................| 14.3
Idaho ...............................| 5.5
Indiana .............................| 5.0
|
Iowa ................................| 3.6
Kansas ..............................| 5.3
Louisiana ...........................| 9.4
Maine ...............................| 5.4
Maryland ............................| 7.8
Michigan ............................| 5.5
Minnesota ...........................| 4.6
Missouri ............................| 4.6
Montana .............................| 4.9
Nebraska ............................| 3.0
|
Nevada ..............................| 12.0
New Hampshire .......................| 4.2
New Jersey ..........................| 8.2
New Mexico ..........................| 8.1
New York ............................| 9.6
North Dakota ........................| 4.8
Ohio ................................| 5.6
Oklahoma ............................| 6.1
South Carolina ......................| 4.2
South Dakota ........................| 3.6
|
Utah ................................| 4.1
Vermont .............................| 3.2
Virginia ............................| 5.3
Washington ..........................| 6.0
Wisconsin ...........................| 5.7
Wyoming .............................| 5.5
--------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Data are not preliminary.
(p) = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from September 2020 to October 2020, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-month
State | September | October | change(p)
| 2020 | 2020(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................| 6.7 | 5.8 | -0.9
Alaska .........................| 7.2 | 5.9 | -1.3
Arizona ........................| 6.5 | 8.0 | 1.5
Arkansas .......................| 7.2 | 6.2 | -1.0
California .....................| 11.1 | 9.3 | -1.8
Connecticut ....................| 7.7 | 6.1 | -1.6
Delaware .......................| 8.3 | 5.6 | -2.7
District of Columbia ...........| 9.0 | 8.2 | -.8
Florida ........................| 7.2 | 6.5 | -.7
Georgia ........................| 6.3 | 4.5 | -1.8
| | |
Hawaii .........................| 15.0 | 14.3 | -.7
Idaho ..........................| 6.1 | 5.5 | -.6
Illinois .......................| 10.4 | 6.8 | -3.6
Indiana ........................| 6.3 | 5.0 | -1.3
Iowa ...........................| 4.8 | 3.6 | -1.2
Kansas .........................| 5.9 | 5.3 | -.6
Kentucky .......................| 5.6 | 7.4 | 1.8
Louisiana ......................| 8.0 | 9.4 | 1.4
Maine ..........................| 6.1 | 5.4 | -.7
Massachusetts ..................| 9.8 | 7.4 | -2.4
| | |
Michigan .......................| 8.6 | 5.5 | -3.1
Minnesota ......................| 5.9 | 4.6 | -1.3
Montana ........................| 5.4 | 4.9 | -.5
Nebraska .......................| 3.6 | 3.0 | -.6
Nevada .........................| 12.5 | 12.0 | -.5
New Hampshire ..................| 5.8 | 4.2 | -1.6
New Jersey .....................| 6.7 | 8.2 | 1.5
New Mexico .....................| 9.9 | 8.1 | -1.8
North Carolina .................| 7.2 | 6.3 | -.9
North Dakota ...................| 4.4 | 4.8 | .4
| | |
Ohio ...........................| 8.3 | 5.6 | -2.7
Oklahoma .......................| 5.4 | 6.1 | .7
Oregon .........................| 7.9 | 6.9 | -1.0
Pennsylvania ...................| 8.3 | 7.3 | -1.0
Rhode Island ...................| 10.5 | 7.0 | -3.5
South Carolina .................| 5.2 | 4.2 | -1.0
South Dakota ...................| 4.1 | 3.6 | -.5
Tennessee ......................| 6.5 | 7.4 | .9
Texas ..........................| 8.3 | 6.9 | -1.4
Utah ...........................| 5.0 | 4.1 | -.9
| | |
Vermont ........................| 4.3 | 3.2 | -1.1
Virginia .......................| 6.2 | 5.3 | -.9
Washington .....................| 8.3 | 6.0 | -2.3
West Virginia ..................| 8.6 | 6.4 | -2.2
Wisconsin ......................| 5.4 | 5.7 | .3
Wyoming ........................| 6.1 | 5.5 | -.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from October 2019 to October 2020, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | October | October | change(p)
| 2019 | 2020(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................| 2.7 | 5.8 | 3.1
Arizona ........................| 4.5 | 8.0 | 3.5
Arkansas .......................| 3.5 | 6.2 | 2.7
California .....................| 3.9 | 9.3 | 5.4
Colorado .......................| 2.5 | 6.4 | 3.9
Connecticut ....................| 3.8 | 6.1 | 2.3
Delaware .......................| 4.0 | 5.6 | 1.6
District of Columbia ...........| 5.3 | 8.2 | 2.9
Florida ........................| 2.9 | 6.5 | 3.6
Georgia ........................| 3.2 | 4.5 | 1.3
| | |
Hawaii .........................| 2.7 | 14.3 | 11.6
Idaho ..........................| 2.9 | 5.5 | 2.6
Illinois .......................| 3.7 | 6.8 | 3.1
Indiana ........................| 3.2 | 5.0 | 1.8
Iowa ...........................| 2.8 | 3.6 | .8
Kansas .........................| 3.1 | 5.3 | 2.2
Kentucky .......................| 4.3 | 7.4 | 3.1
Louisiana ......................| 5.2 | 9.4 | 4.2
Maine ..........................| 3.0 | 5.4 | 2.4
Maryland .......................| 3.4 | 7.8 | 4.4
| | |
Massachusetts ..................| 2.8 | 7.4 | 4.6
Michigan .......................| 3.9 | 5.5 | 1.6
Minnesota ......................| 3.3 | 4.6 | 1.3
Mississippi ....................| 5.6 | 7.4 | 1.8
Missouri .......................| 3.4 | 4.6 | 1.2
Montana ........................| 3.5 | 4.9 | 1.4
Nevada .........................| 3.7 | 12.0 | 8.3
New Hampshire ..................| 2.6 | 4.2 | 1.6
New Jersey .....................| 3.7 | 8.2 | 4.5
New Mexico .....................| 4.8 | 8.1 | 3.3
| | |
New York .......................| 3.9 | 9.6 | 5.7
North Carolina .................| 3.7 | 6.3 | 2.6
North Dakota ...................| 2.4 | 4.8 | 2.4
Ohio ...........................| 4.1 | 5.6 | 1.5
Oklahoma .......................| 3.4 | 6.1 | 2.7
Oregon .........................| 3.4 | 6.9 | 3.5
Pennsylvania ...................| 4.6 | 7.3 | 2.7
Rhode Island ...................| 3.5 | 7.0 | 3.5
South Carolina .................| 2.4 | 4.2 | 1.8
Tennessee ......................| 3.3 | 7.4 | 4.1
| | |
Texas ..........................| 3.5 | 6.9 | 3.4
Utah ...........................| 2.4 | 4.1 | 1.7
Vermont ........................| 2.4 | 3.2 | .8
Virginia .......................| 2.7 | 5.3 | 2.6
Washington .....................| 4.0 | 6.0 | 2.0
West Virginia ..................| 5.1 | 6.4 | 1.3
Wisconsin ......................| 3.5 | 5.7 | 2.2
Wyoming ........................| 3.7 | 5.5 | 1.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
September 2020 to October 2020, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-month change(p)
State | September | October |---------------------------
| 2020 | 2020(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 2,006,400 | 2,027,100 | 20,700 | 1.0
Alaska .......................| 300,700 | 309,300 | 8,600 | 2.9
Arizona ......................| 2,864,600 | 2,885,700 | 21,100 | .7
Arkansas .....................| 1,226,200 | 1,235,900 | 9,700 | .8
California ...................| 15,988,700 | 16,134,200 | 145,500 | .9
Colorado .....................| 2,667,000 | 2,688,100 | 21,100 | .8
Connecticut ..................| 1,586,100 | 1,600,200 | 14,100 | .9
Delaware .....................| 426,900 | 430,100 | 3,200 | .7
Florida ......................| 8,541,600 | 8,593,200 | 51,600 | .6
Georgia ......................| 4,468,500 | 4,493,500 | 25,000 | .6
| | | |
Hawaii .......................| 532,100 | 542,600 | 10,500 | 2.0
Idaho ........................| 757,800 | 763,200 | 5,400 | .7
Indiana ......................| 3,038,400 | 3,056,400 | 18,000 | .6
Iowa .........................| 1,502,200 | 1,512,800 | 10,600 | .7
Kansas .......................| 1,361,700 | 1,368,900 | 7,200 | .5
Kentucky .....................| 1,827,300 | 1,838,200 | 10,900 | .6
Louisiana ....................| 1,855,700 | 1,877,200 | 21,500 | 1.2
Maryland .....................| 2,604,900 | 2,615,100 | 10,200 | .4
Massachusetts ................| 3,341,500 | 3,352,900 | 11,400 | .3
Michigan .....................| 4,017,500 | 4,033,400 | 15,900 | .4
| | | |
Minnesota ....................| 2,780,200 | 2,793,400 | 13,200 | .5
Nebraska .....................| 999,700 | 1,004,200 | 4,500 | .5
New Hampshire ................| 631,600 | 627,900 | -3,700 | -.6
North Carolina ...............| 4,320,000 | 4,346,400 | 26,400 | .6
Ohio .........................| 5,191,500 | 5,222,300 | 30,800 | .6
Oregon .......................| 1,816,000 | 1,830,200 | 14,200 | .8
Pennsylvania .................| 5,603,300 | 5,622,100 | 18,800 | .3
South Carolina ...............| 2,113,100 | 2,124,800 | 11,700 | .6
Tennessee ....................| 3,002,500 | 3,027,100 | 24,600 | .8
Texas ........................| 12,272,600 | 12,390,700 | 118,100 | 1.0
| | | |
Utah .........................| 1,557,400 | 1,565,900 | 8,500 | .5
Virginia .....................| 3,864,800 | 3,898,800 | 34,000 | .9
Wisconsin ....................| 2,782,400 | 2,767,700 | -14,700 | -.5
Wyoming ......................| 272,500 | 275,900 | 3,400 | 1.2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from
October 2019 to October 2020, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-year change(p)
State | October | October |---------------------------
| 2019 | 2020(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 2,076,200 | 2,027,100 | -49,100 | -2.4
Alaska .......................| 330,400 | 309,300 | -21,100 | -6.4
Arizona ......................| 2,958,900 | 2,885,700 | -73,200 | -2.5
Arkansas .....................| 1,277,600 | 1,235,900 | -41,700 | -3.3
California ...................| 17,503,600 | 16,134,200 | -1,369,400 | -7.8
Colorado .....................| 2,799,700 | 2,688,100 | -111,600 | -4.0
Connecticut ..................| 1,690,000 | 1,600,200 | -89,800 | -5.3
Delaware .....................| 466,500 | 430,100 | -36,400 | -7.8
District of Columbia .........| 800,600 | 749,300 | -51,300 | -6.4
Florida ......................| 9,000,800 | 8,593,200 | -407,600 | -4.5
| | | |
Georgia ......................| 4,630,100 | 4,493,500 | -136,600 | -3.0
Hawaii .......................| 656,300 | 542,600 | -113,700 | -17.3
Illinois .....................| 6,116,300 | 5,704,500 | -411,800 | -6.7
Indiana ......................| 3,157,600 | 3,056,400 | -101,200 | -3.2
Iowa .........................| 1,587,900 | 1,512,800 | -75,100 | -4.7
Kansas .......................| 1,421,900 | 1,368,900 | -53,000 | -3.7
Kentucky .....................| 1,945,300 | 1,838,200 | -107,100 | -5.5
Louisiana ....................| 1,983,000 | 1,877,200 | -105,800 | -5.3
Maine ........................| 638,200 | 589,200 | -49,000 | -7.7
Maryland .....................| 2,765,300 | 2,615,100 | -150,200 | -5.4
| | | |
Massachusetts ................| 3,693,100 | 3,352,900 | -340,200 | -9.2
Michigan .....................| 4,414,600 | 4,033,400 | -381,200 | -8.6
Minnesota ....................| 2,981,600 | 2,793,400 | -188,200 | -6.3
Mississippi ..................| 1,160,500 | 1,131,700 | -28,800 | -2.5
Missouri .....................| 2,905,000 | 2,783,200 | -121,800 | -4.2
Montana ......................| 484,600 | 470,200 | -14,400 | -3.0
Nebraska .....................| 1,030,100 | 1,004,200 | -25,900 | -2.5
Nevada .......................| 1,422,500 | 1,305,300 | -117,200 | -8.2
New Hampshire ................| 684,300 | 627,900 | -56,400 | -8.2
New Jersey ...................| 4,211,500 | 3,886,900 | -324,600 | -7.7
| | | |
New Mexico ...................| 860,500 | 804,200 | -56,300 | -6.5
New York .....................| 9,798,800 | 8,783,300 | -1,015,500 | -10.4
North Carolina ...............| 4,584,600 | 4,346,400 | -238,200 | -5.2
North Dakota .................| 438,600 | 410,400 | -28,200 | -6.4
Ohio .........................| 5,575,900 | 5,222,300 | -353,600 | -6.3
Oklahoma .....................| 1,707,200 | 1,624,100 | -83,100 | -4.9
Oregon .......................| 1,947,800 | 1,830,200 | -117,600 | -6.0
Pennsylvania .................| 6,078,000 | 5,622,100 | -455,900 | -7.5
Rhode Island .................| 504,700 | 468,400 | -36,300 | -7.2
South Carolina ...............| 2,202,500 | 2,124,800 | -77,700 | -3.5
| | | |
South Dakota .................| 442,500 | 428,400 | -14,100 | -3.2
Tennessee ....................| 3,135,900 | 3,027,100 | -108,800 | -3.5
Texas ........................| 12,889,900 | 12,390,700 | -499,200 | -3.9
Vermont ......................| 316,100 | 286,600 | -29,500 | -9.3
Virginia .....................| 4,063,600 | 3,898,800 | -164,800 | -4.1
Washington ...................| 3,483,900 | 3,293,300 | -190,600 | -5.5
West Virginia ................| 717,900 | 670,900 | -47,000 | -6.5
Wisconsin ....................| 2,972,700 | 2,767,700 | -205,000 | -6.9
Wyoming ......................| 289,500 | 275,900 | -13,600 | -4.7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
United States Department of Labor
