State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
In December, Hawaii and North Dakota registered the lowest unemployment rates, 3.0 and 3.2 percent, respectively, while eight additional states also recorded rates below 4.0 percent. Two states experienced the lowest unemployment rates in their series--Idaho, 4.0 percent, and Montana, 3.7 percent. (Virtually all regional and state series begin in 1978.) Alaska and Michigan reported the highest jobless rates, 7.3 percent each. Three additional states had rates of at least 6.0 percent. The District of Columbia recorded an unemployment rate of 9.0 percent.Over the month, unemployment rates were higher in 23 states and the District of Columbia, lower in 19 states, and unchanged in 8 states. No state reported a rate increase greater than 0.4 percentage point. Idaho registered the largest over-the-month decrease (-1.1 percentage points), followed by Ohio (-0.6 point) and Montana (-0.5 point).
December unemployment rates were lower than a year earlier in 43 states, higher in 5 states and the District of Columbia, and unchanged in 2 states. Kentucky and Washington reported the largest rate decreases from a year ago (-1.5 percentage points each), followed by Hawaii, New Jersey, and Oklahoma (-1.4 points each). Nine additional states registered rate decreases of at least 1.0 percentage point. Twenty-three other states had decreases ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 percentage point, inclusive. Mississippi reported the largest over-the-year unemployment rate increase (+0.8 percentage point). No other state had a rate increase greater than 0.4 percentage point. The District of Columbia posted an over-the-year unemployment rate increase of 2.0 percentage points.
Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
From November to December, total nonfarm employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 16 states, and was unchanged in 2 states. The largest employment increases occurred in Florida (+12,100), Texas (+7,000), Georgia (+5,600), Colorado (+5,400), and New York (+5,200). Nevada reported the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+0.4 percent), followed by Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Vermont (+0.3 percent each). The largest employment decreases occurred in California (-25,000), Michigan (-15,400), Ohio (-7,500), Wisconsin (-6,400), and Massachusetts (-3,300). The largest over-the-month percentage decreases in employment were reported in Michigan (-0.4 percent) and California, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Wisconsin (-0.2 percent each).Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 48 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 2 states. The largest over-the-year gains in employment occurred in Florida (+172,300), California (+152,300), Texas (+124,800), Virginia (+79,500), and North Carolina (+76,400). The largest percentage gains were reported in Nevada (+4.8 percent), Hawaii and Utah (+3.2 percent each), Idaho (+3.1 percent), Arizona (+2.8 percent), and Washington (+2.4 percent). The largest over-the-year employment decrease was registered in Michigan (-46,500, -1.1 percent).
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