Regional And State Employment And Unemployment Report April 2013

Regional and State Employment And Unemployment Report rates were generally little changed in April. Forty states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases, three states had increases, and seven states had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, while seven states had increases. The national jobless rate was little changed in April, at 7.5 percent, but was 0.6 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

In April, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 30 states, decreased in 18 states and the District of Columbia, and was unchanged in 2 states.  The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in Texas (+33,100), New York (+25,300), and Florida (+17,000). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Wisconsin (-24,100), followed by Minnesota (-11,400). Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri, and Nevada had the largest over-the-month percentage increases in employment (+0.5 percent each). Wisconsin (-0.9 percent) and Minnesota (-0.4 percent) had the largest over-the-month percentage declines in employment. Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 47 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 3 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increases occurred in North Dakota (+3.7 percent) and Utah (+3.5 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in
Wyoming (-0.5 percent) and Maine (-0.3 percent).

Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

In April, the West continued to have the highest regional unemployment rate, 8.0 percent, while the South again had the lowest rate, 7.1 percent. Over the month, three regions had statistically ignificant unemployment rate changes: the Northeast and West (-0.3 percentage point each) and the South (-0.1 point). Significant over-the-year rate changes occurred in the same three regions: the West (-1.4 percentage points), South (-0.7 point), and Northeast (-0.5 point). (See table 1.)

Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to have the highest jobless rate, 8.5 percent in April. The West North Central again had the lowest rate, 5.4 percent. Three divisions had statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate changes: the Middle Atlantic (-0.4 percentage point), Pacific (-0.3 point), and South Atlantic (-0.2 point). Three divisions had significant rate changes from a year earlier: the Pacific (-1.6 percentage points) and the Mountain and South Atlantic (-0.9 point each).

State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Nevada had the highest unemployment rate among the states in April, 9.6 percent. The next highest rates were in Illinois (9.3 percent), Mississippi (9.1 percent), and California (9.0 percent). North Dakota again had the lowest jobless rate, 3.3 percent. In total, 19 states had jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 7.5 percent, 8 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 23 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation. (See tables A and 3.)

Fifteen states had statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate changes in April, all of which were declines. The largest of these occurred in California, New York, and South Carolina (-0.4 percentage point each). The remaining 35 states and the District of Columbia had jobless rates that were not measurably 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.)

The largest jobless rate declines from April 2012 occurred in Nevada (-1.9 percentage points), Rhode Island (-1.8 points), and California and Florida (-1.7 points each). Eleven additional states had maller but also statistically significant decreases over the year. The remaining 35 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from those of a year earlier. (See table C.)

Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)

In April 2013, nine states had statistically significant over-the-month changes in employment, seven of which were increases. The largest statistically significant job gains occurred in Texas (+33,100) and New York (+25,300). The two statistically significant job decreases occurred in Wisconsin (-24,100) and Minnesota (-11,400). (See table D.)

Over the year, 28 states had statistically significant changes in employment, all of which were positive. The largest over-the-year job increase occurred in Texas (+326,100), followed by California (+273,100), Florida (+119,100), and New York (+111,600). (See table E.)

Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., April 2013, seasonally adjusted
————————————————————–
State	Rate(p)
————————————————————–
United States (1) …………….	7.5
Alaska …………………………	6
California ……………………..	9
District of Columbia …………….	8.5
Hawaii …………………………	4.9
Idaho ………………………….	6.1
Illinois ……………………….	9.3
Indiana ………………………..	8.5
Iowa …………………………..	4.7
Kansas …………………………	5.5
Maryland ……………………….	6.5
Massachusetts …………………..	6.4
Minnesota ………………………	5.3
Mississippi …………………….	9.1
Montana ………………………..	5.5
Nebraska ……………………….	3.7
Nevada …………………………	9.6
New Hampshire …………………..	5.5
New Jersey ……………………..	8.7
North Carolina ………………….	8.9
North Dakota ……………………	3.3
Oklahoma ……………………….	4.9
Rhode Island ……………………	8.8
South Dakota ……………………	4.1
Texas ………………………….	6.4
Utah …………………………..	4.7
Vermont ………………………..	4
Virginia ……………………….	5.2
Wyoming ………………………..	4.8
————————————————————–
1 Data are not preliminary.
p = preliminary.

 

Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from March 2013 to April 2013, seasonally adjusted
————————————————————————-
	Rate
	———–	———–	Over-the-month
State	March	April	change(p)
	2013	2013(p)
————————————————————————-
California …………………	9.4	9	-0.4
Florida ……………………	7.5	7.2	-0.3
Georgia ……………………	8.4	8.2	-0.2
Hawaii …………………….	5.1	4.9	-0.2
Iowa ………………………	4.9	4.7	-0.2
Maine ……………………..	7.1	6.9	-0.2
New Hampshire ………………	5.7	5.5	-0.2
New Jersey …………………	9	8.7	-0.3
New York …………………..	8.2	7.8	-0.4
North Carolina ……………..	9.2	8.9	-0.3
Pennsylvania ……………….	7.9	7.6	-0.3
Rhode Island ……………….	9.1	8.8	-0.3
South Carolina ……………..	8.4	8	-0.4
Utah ………………………	4.9	4.7	-0.2
Washington …………………	7.3	7	-0.3
————————————————————————-
p = preliminary.

Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from April 2012 to April 2013, seasonally adjusted
————————————————————————-
	Rate
	———————–	Over-the-year
State	April	April	change(p)
	2012	2013(p)
————————————————————————-
Alaska …………………….	7	6	-1
California …………………	10.7	9	-1.7
Colorado …………………..	8.2	6.9	-1.3
Florida ……………………	8.9	7.2	-1.7
Georgia ……………………	9.1	8.2	-0.9
Hawaii …………………….	6.1	4.9	-1.2
Idaho ……………………..	7.3	6.1	-1.2
Nevada …………………….	11.5	9.6	-1.9
New York …………………..	8.6	7.8	-0.8
Rhode Island ……………….	10.6	8.8	-1.8
South Carolina ……………..	9.3	8	-1.3
Utah ………………………	5.7	4.7	-1
Vermont ……………………	4.9	4	-0.9
Virginia …………………..	5.9	5.2	-0.7
Washington …………………	8.4	7	-1.4
————————————————————————-
p = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
March 2013 to April 2013, seasonally adjusted
————————————————————————–
	March	April	Over-the-month
State	2013	2013(p)	change(p)
————————————————————————–
Colorado………………….	2,351,100	2,362,700	11,600
Connecticut……………….	1,643,000	1,649,300	6,300
Hawaii……………………	609,600	612,600	3,000
Minnesota…………………	2,772,000	2,760,600	-11,400
Missouri………………….	2,680,400	2,692,500	12,100
New York………………….	8,879,400	8,904,700	25,300
Texas…………………….	11,112,900	11,146,000	33,100
Virginia………………….	3,753,800	3,765,900	12,100
Wisconsin…………………	2,805,800	2,781,700	-24,100
————————————————————————–
p = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from
April 2012 to April 2013, seasonally adjusted
————————————————————————–
	April	April	Over-the-year
State	2012	2013(p)	change(p)
————————————————————————–
Arizona…………………..	2,454,200	2,494,800	40,600
California………………..	14,329,100	14,602,200	273,100
Colorado………………….	2,299,500	2,362,700	63,200
Delaware………………….	417,900	424,400	6,500
Florida…………………..	7,396,300	7,515,400	119,100
Georgia…………………..	3,948,700	4,016,800	68,100
Idaho…………………….	619,500	634,900	15,400
Illinois………………….	5,735,200	5,775,500	40,300
Indiana…………………..	2,894,200	2,928,300	34,100
Maryland………………….	2,568,300	2,602,900	34,600
Massachusetts……………..	3,265,800	3,312,000	46,200
Michigan………………….	4,024,500	4,056,800	32,300
Mississippi……………….	1,102,400	1,119,300	16,900
Missouri………………….	2,664,700	2,692,500	27,800
Nevada……………………	1,139,200	1,161,900	22,700
New Jersey………………..	3,881,200	3,950,300	69,100
New York………………….	8,793,100	8,904,700	111,600
North Carolina…………….	3,981,300	4,054,600	73,300
North Dakota………………	425,300	441,200	15,900
Oklahoma………………….	1,605,900	1,624,800	18,900
Oregon……………………	1,636,400	1,660,800	24,400
South Carolina…………….	1,857,700	1,881,500	23,800
Tennessee…………………	2,709,400	2,757,300	47,900
Texas…………………….	10,819,900	11,146,000	326,100
Utah……………………..	1,242,400	1,286,100	43,700
Vermont…………………..	301,200	306,300	5,100
Virginia………………….	3,729,200	3,765,900	36,700
Washington………………..	2,860,600	2,917,200	56,600
————————————————————————–
p = preliminary.