For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, May 20, 2016
REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT — APRIL 2016
Unemployment rates were significantly lower in April in 5 states, higher in 4 states, and stable in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Nineteen states had notable unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, 2 states had increases, and 29 states and the District had no notable net change. The national jobless rate was unchanged from March at 5.0 percent and was 0.4 percentage point lower than in April 2015.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 11 states in April 2016, decreased in 6 states, and was essentially unchanged in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, 37 states added appreciable numbers of nonfarm payroll jobs, 2 states lost jobs, and 11 states and the District were virtually unchanged.
Regional Unemployment
In April, no region had an unemployment rate significantly different from the U.S. rate of 5.0 percent. Over the month, no region had a statistically significant unemployment rate change. However, significant over-the-year rate decreases occurred in three regions: the West (-0.8 percentage point), Northeast (-0.7 point), and South (-0.5 point). (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central had the lowest unemployment rate, 3.8 percent in April, followed by New England, 4.4 percent. The East North Central had the highest rate, 5.4 percent.
Over the month, the only statistically significant jobless rate change occurred in the Middle Atlantic (+0.2 percentage point). Seven of the 9 divisions had significant rate changes from a year earlier, all of which were declines. The largest of these decreases occurred in the Pacific (-0.9 percentage point).
page source http://www.bls.gov/
