Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in December. All four regions and 43 states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rate shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less from November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates declined in all four regions and in 43 states. In December, the national jobless rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia over the month.
Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
The Northeast and South reported the lowest unemployment rates among the four regions in December, 4.9 and 5.0 percent, respectively. The Midwest posted the highest rate, 5.5 percent, followed closely by the West at 5.4 percent. The West had reported the highest rate of any region virtually every month from 1992 through late 2004. Over the year, the West and Northeast registered the largest rate declines (-0.9 and -0.8 percentage point, respectively).Among the nine geographic divisions, the New England and Mountain divisions recorded the lowest unemployment rates in December, 4.3 and 4.4 per-cent, respectively, followed by the South Atlantic and West North Central,4.6 percent each. The East North Central division posted the highest unemployment rate, 5.9 percent, followed by the Pacific division at 5.8 percent. None of the divisions experienced a rate change from November greater than 0.2 percentage point in either direction. All nine divisions registered over-the-year jobless rate declines, with the largest decreases in New England (-1.1 percentage points), the Mountain and Pacific divisions (-0.9 point each), and the West South Central division (-0.8 point).
