Jan. jobless rates down in 24 states, up in 8; payroll jobs up in 39 states, down in 10

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I should have done this yesterday in LBN. There are so many of these releases, though.

Jan. jobless rates down in 24 states, up in 8; payroll jobs up in 39 states, down in 10

Economic News Release

Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary
For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, March 17, 2015
USDL-15-0425

Technical information:
Employment: [phone] • [e-mail] • www.bls.gov/sae
Unemployment: [phone] • [e-mail] • www.bls.gov/lau

Media contact: [phone] • [e-mail]


REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- JANUARY 2015


Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in January. Twenty-four states had unemployment rate decreases from December, 8 states had increases, and 18 states and the District of Columbia had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, three states had increases, and two states had no change. The national jobless rate was little changed from December at 5.7 percent but was 0.9 percentage point lower than in January 2014.

In January 2015, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 39 states, decreased in 10 states and the District of Columbia, and was unchanged in North Carolina. The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in California (+67,300), Ohio (+25,100), and Michigan (+24,200). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Virginia (-10,900), followed by Minnesota (-7,900) and Louisiana (-7,500). The largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment occurred in Idaho (+1.4 percent), followed by Hawaii (+0.9 percent) and Utah (+0.7 percent). The largest over-the-month percentage decline in employment occurred in Maine (-0.6 percent), followed by Louisiana and New Hampshire (-0.4 percent each). Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 49 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in Maine (-0.1 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+4.3 percent), followed by Utah (+4.0 percent) and Florida and Nevada (+3.6 percent each).

Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

In January, the Midwest had the lowest regional unemployment rate, 5.2 percent, while the West had the highest rate, 6.3 percent. Over the month, only the South had a statistically significant unemployment rate change (-0.1 percentage point). Significant over-the-year rate decreases occurred in all four regions: the Midwest (-1.4 percentage points), Northeast (-1.1 points), West (-1.0 point), and South (-0.9 point). (See table 1.)

Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central had the lowest unemployment rate, 4.2 percent in January. The Pacific had the highest rate, 6.7 percent. Over the month, no division had a statistically significant change in its jobless rate. All nine divisions had significant rate declines from a year earlier, with the largest of these decreases occurring in the East North Central (-1.6 percentage points). The next largest over-the-year unemployment rate decreases were in the Middle Atlantic, Mountain, and New England divisions (-1.1 percentage points each).