NEWS Release - 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 and map 1 ).
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.)
page source https://www.bls.gov/
