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Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6392 USDL 98-78 Media contact: 606-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Friday, February 27, 1998 STATE AND REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT, 1997 ANNUAL AVERAGES As the national unemployment rate decreased from 5.4 percent in 1996 to 4.9 percent in 1997, rates also fell in three-fourths of the states, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. All four of the nation’s regions and eight of the nine divisions experienced jobless rate declines on an annual average basis as well. Unemployment rates were lower in 1997 than in the prior year in 37 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 10 states, and unchanged in 3 states. Seven states recorded decreases of a full percentage point or more: New Mexico (-1.9 percentage points), Washington (-1.7 points), South Carolina (-1.5 points), Nevada (-1.3 points), Delaware (-1.2 points), and New Hampshire and New Jersey (-1.1 points each). No state experienced a rate increase of more than 0.3 point. Twelve states--Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, Utah, and Washington--posted their lowest annual average rates. (The length of the annual series varies by state and ranges from 22 to 28 years.) North Dakota and Nebraska recorded the lowest unemployment rates for 1997, 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Utah were next, all at 3.1 percent. Three additional states had jobless rates below 3.5 percent. Alaska and the District of Columbia posted the highest rates for 1997 (both 7.9 percent), followed by West Virginia (6.9 percent). Twenty-seven states registered unemployment rates below the national average, while 23 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates. At the region and division level, the spread between high and low unemployment rates narrowed in 1997. The Midwest region maintained the lowest jobless rate (4.0 percent) for the seventh year in a row. The West reported the highest rate (5.6 percent) for the sixth straight year, although it experienced the largest regional decline (-0.9 percentage point). Both the Midwest and South reported their lowest annual rates since the beginning of the series (1978), and the Northeast and West achieved their lowest rates since 1989 and 1990, respectively. Among the nation’s nine divisions, the West North Central division had the lowest unemployment rate (3.5 percent), as it has for the last 8 years. For the sixth consecutive year, the Pacific division posted the highest jobless rate (6.1 percent), though it also registered the largest of the eight divisional rate decreases (-0.9 percentage point). Only the East South Central division, where the rate was unchanged from 1996, failed to record a drop in joblessness. Four divisions--the East North Central, West North Central, South Atlantic, and Mountain--reported annual lows in their series. All estimates presented in this release, except those for Puerto Rico, were derived from the Current Population Survey, a sample survey of about 50,000 households conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Bureau of the Census. Region and division levels are obtained by summing the estimates for component states and then calculating the - 2 unemployment rates. A description of the survey and information about the reliability of the state estimates appear in "Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment, 1995," Bulletin 2486. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577. Table 1. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state, 1996-97 annual averages (Numbers in thousands) Population Region, division, and state Civilian labor force Employed Unemployed 1996 1997 1996 1997 1996 1997 1996 United States(2)........ 200,591 203,133 133,943 136,297 126,708 129,558 7,236 Northeast........... New England....... Connecticut..... Maine........... Massachusetts... New Hampshire... 39,685 10,286 2,523 966 4,704 887 39,751 10,328 2,523 972 4,726 898 25,648 7,004 1,721 667 3,174 623 26,102 7,118 1,723 659 3,260 645 24,206 6,668 1,622 633 3,038 597 24,697 6,804 1,635 623 3,129 625 1,442 336 99 34 137 26 1997 Unemployment rate Error range of rate, 1997(1) 1996 1997 6,739 5.4 4.9 4.8 - 5.0 1,405 314 88 36 131 20 5.6 4.8 5.7 5.1 4.3 4.2 5.4 4.4 5.1 5.4 4.0 3.1 5.2 4.1 4.4 4.7 3.6 2.6 - 5.6 4.7 5.8 6.1 4.4 3.6 Rhode Island.... Vermont......... 754 452 754 455 495 324 505 326 470 309 478 313 25 15 27 13 5.1 4.6 5.3 4.0 4.6 3.4 - 6.0 4.6 Middle Atlantic... New Jersey...... New York........ Pennsylvania.... 29,399 6,149 13,961 9,289 29,423 6,191 13,949 9,283 18,644 4,133 8,607 5,904 18,984 4,194 8,807 5,984 17,537 3,877 8,069 5,591 17,894 3,978 8,243 5,673 1,106 256 537 313 1,091 215 564 311 5.9 6.2 6.2 5.3 5.7 5.1 6.4 5.2 5.5 4.7 6.1 4.8 - 5.9 5.5 6.7 5.6 Midwest............. East North Central Illinois........ Indiana......... Michigan........ Ohio............ Wisconsin....... 47,016 33,147 8,907 4,433 7,402 8,512 3,893 47,305 33,336 8,943 4,467 7,464 8,544 3,918 32,724 22,629 6,104 3,067 4,909 5,641 2,908 32,950 22,848 6,130 3,094 4,986 5,710 2,928 31,248 21,560 5,781 2,941 4,670 5,363 2,805 31,618 21,871 5,841 2,985 4,776 5,448 2,821 1,476 1,069 322 126 239 278 103 1,332 977 288 109 210 262 108 4.5 4.7 5.3 4.1 4.9 4.9 3.5 4.0 4.3 4.7 3.5 4.2 4.6 3.7 3.9 4.1 4.4 3.0 3.9 4.3 3.2 - 4.1 4.5 5.0 4.0 4.5 4.9 4.2 West North Central Iowa............ Kansas.......... Minnesota....... Missouri........ Nebraska........ North Dakota.... South Dakota.... 13,869 2,166 1,921 3,489 4,042 1,228 478 545 13,969 2,170 1,938 3,523 4,073 1,236 479 550 10,094 1,593 1,346 2,606 2,901 911 344 394 10,102 1,577 1,366 2,625 2,888 906 348 393 9,688 1,533 1,285 2,502 2,769 884 334 381 9,747 1,526 1,315 2,539 2,765 883 339 381 407 60 61 104 133 27 11 13 355 51 52 86 122 24 9 12 4.0 3.8 4.5 4.0 4.6 2.9 3.1 3.2 3.5 3.3 3.8 3.3 4.2 2.6 2.5 3.1 3.3 2.8 3.3 2.8 3.7 2.2 2.1 2.6 - 3.7 3.8 4.3 3.8 4.7 3.0 2.9 3.6 South............... South Atlantic.... Delaware........ District of Columbia......... Florida......... Georgia......... Maryland........ North Carolina.. South Carolina.. Virginia........ West Virginia... 70,506 36,434 556 71,523 36,957 564 46,458 23,965 381 47,198 24,406 380 44,025 22,775 361 44,872 23,298 364 2,433 1,189 20 2,326 1,108 15 5.2 5.0 5.2 4.9 4.5 4.0 4.8 4.3 3.4 - 5.0 4.7 4.6 425 11,222 5,515 3,877 5,527 2,830 5,033 1,449 416 11,404 5,637 3,913 5,605 2,870 5,097 1,451 270 6,954 3,741 2,791 3,785 1,851 3,385 806 257 7,106 3,907 2,789 3,844 1,913 3,405 805 247 6,601 3,568 2,655 3,620 1,740 3,236 745 237 6,768 3,730 2,648 3,705 1,826 3,271 749 23 353 172 136 164 111 149 60 20 338 177 142 139 86 135 55 8.5 5.1 4.6 4.9 4.3 6.0 4.4 7.5 7.9 4.8 4.5 5.1 3.6 4.5 4.0 6.9 7.1 4.5 4.0 4.5 3.2 3.9 3.5 6.2 - 8.7 5.1 5.0 5.7 4.0 5.1 4.5 7.6 East South Central Alabama......... Kentucky........ Mississippi..... Tennessee....... 12,404 3,299 2,988 2,019 4,098 12,558 3,338 3,019 2,042 4,159 7,968 2,097 1,868 1,259 2,745 8,076 2,174 1,928 1,265 2,708 7,537 1,989 1,763 1,181 2,604 7,643 2,064 1,824 1,193 2,562 431 108 105 77 141 433 110 104 73 146 5.4 5.1 5.6 6.1 5.2 5.4 5.1 5.4 5.7 5.4 5.1 4.5 4.8 5.1 4.8 - 5.7 5.7 6.0 6.3 6.0 West South Central Arkansas........ 21,668 1,903 22,008 1,918 14,525 1,232 14,716 1,211 13,713 1,165 13,931 1,147 812 66 785 64 5.6 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.1 4.7 - 5.5 5.9 Louisiana....... Oklahoma........ Texas........... 3,225 2,469 14,071 3,259 2,492 14,339 2,002 1,577 9,715 2,024 1,600 9,881 1,867 1,513 9,168 1,900 1,534 9,350 135 64 547 124 66 531 6.7 4.1 5.6 6.1 4.1 5.4 5.4 3.6 5.1 - 6.8 4.6 5.7 West................ Mountain.......... Arizona......... Colorado........ Idaho........... Montana......... Nevada.......... New Mexico...... Utah............ Wyoming......... 43,736 12,030 3,318 2,901 879 670 1,216 1,271 1,414 361 44,500 12,308 3,396 2,964 898 675 1,271 1,291 1,450 363 29,346 8,274 2,205 2,099 619 446 841 800 1,008 256 30,005 8,406 2,165 2,158 634 454 883 820 1,040 251 27,446 7,850 2,083 2,010 586 422 795 736 973 243 28,331 8,044 2,065 2,088 600 430 847 769 1,008 238 1,899 424 121 89 32 23 45 64 35 13 1,674 362 101 70 34 24 36 51 32 13 6.5 5.1 5.5 4.2 5.2 5.3 5.4 8.1 3.5 5.0 5.6 4.3 4.6 3.3 5.3 5.4 4.1 6.2 3.1 5.1 5.4 4.1 4.0 2.8 4.7 4.8 3.6 5.5 2.6 4.5 - 5.8 4.5 5.2 3.8 5.9 6.0 4.6 6.9 3.6 5.7 Pacific........... Alaska.......... California...... Hawaii.......... Oregon.......... Washington...... 31,706 422 23,755 864 2,482 4,183 32,192 426 24,110 873 2,525 4,258 21,072 313 15,569 590 1,720 2,880 21,600 316 15,972 592 1,732 2,988 19,596 289 14,444 553 1,618 2,693 20,287 291 14,965 554 1,631 2,846 1,475 24 1,124 38 102 187 1,312 25 1,006 38 101 142 7.0 7.8 7.2 6.4 5.9 6.5 6.1 7.9 6.3 6.4 5.8 4.8 5.9 7.1 6.0 5.7 5.2 4.2 - 6.3 8.7 6.6 7.1 6.4 5.4 Puerto Rico(3)...... 2,696 2,722 1,284 1,308 1,112 1,132 172 176 13.4 13.5 (4) 1 Error ranges are shown at the 90-percent confidence level. 2 Because of separate processing and weighting procedures, totals for the United States differ from the results obtained by aggregating the data for regions, divisions, or states. 3 The source of these data is the Employment Security Agency of Puerto Rico. 4 Not available. NOTE: Region and division data are derived from summing the component states. Sub-national data incorporate updated 1990 census-based population controls. Historical data have been revised.