The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6392 USDL 99-46 Media contact: 606-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Friday, February 26, 1999 STATE AND REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT, 1998 ANNUAL AVERAGES Unemployment rates decreased in 38 states from 1997 to 1998, 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 geographic divisions experienced rate declines as well. The national jobless rate decreased from 4.9 percent to 4.5 percent over this period. The national unemployment rate reached its lowest point since 1969, and 13 states posted their lowest annual average rates since the beginning of their series (usually the mid-1970s)--Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Unemployment rates were lower in 1998 than in the prior year in 38 states, higher in 8 states and the District of Columbia, and unchanged in 4 states. Five states recorded drops of a full percentage point or more: Alaska (-2.1 percentage points), Connecticut (-1.7 points), Tennessee (-1.2 points), Virginia (-1.1 points), and Maine (-1.0 point). No state experienced a rate increase of a full percentage point or more, though the following registered increases of at least one-half percentage point: the District of Columbia (0.9 point), North Dakota and Utah (0.7 point each), and Colorado (0.5 point). Among the states, Minnesota recorded the lowest 1998 annual average unemployment rate, 2.5 percent, followed by Nebraska, 2.7 percent. Nebraska has had the lowest or second-lowest rate for the past 9 years. The other states with rates below 3.0 percent were Iowa (2.8 percent) and New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Virginia (each 2.9 percent). Seven of the 12 states with rates below 3.5 percent were in the Midwest, and 4 were in New England. West Virginia posted the highest unemployment rate for 1998 (6.6 percent), followed by Hawaii and New Mexico (6.2 percent each). The District of Columbia's rate was 8.8 percent. Of the 12 states with rates at or above 5 percent, 7 were in the West and 4 were in the South. Twentyeight states registered unemployment rates below the national average, while 20 states had higher rates. At the regional level, the Midwest maintained the lowest jobless rate in 1998 (3.7 percent) for the eighth year in a row, as every state in that region had a rate of 4.5 percent or less. The West region, where only Colorado and Utah had rates below 4.0 percent, reported the highest regional unemployment rate (5.4 percent) for the seventh straight year. Both the Midwest and South reported their lowest annual rates since the beginning of their series (1978), while the Northeast and West achieved their lowest annual rates since 1989. The Northeast and South reported the largest declines over the year, -0.7 percentage point and -0.5 point, respectively. Among the nation's nine geographic divisions, the West North Central had the lowest unemployment rate (3.3 percent), as it has for the last 9 years. For the seventh consecutive year, the Pacific division posted the highest - 2 jobless rate (5.7 percent). The unemployment rate fell in each division from 1997 to 1998, except the Mountain division, where the rate was essentially unchanged. The largest declines were in New England and the East South Central division (-0.9 percentage point each). Four divisions-the East North Central, West North Central, East South Central, and South Atlantic--reported new annual lows. Estimates in this release 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. (The table includes estimates for Puerto Rico based on a monthly household survey similar to the Current Population Survey, conducted by the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources.) A description of the survey and information about the reliability of the state estimates appear in Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment, 1996, Bulletin 2498. The length of the annual series varies by state and ranges from 23 to 29 years. 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, 1997-98 annual averages (Numbers in thousands) Population Region, division, and state 1997 1998 Civilian labor force 1997 1998 Employed 1997 1998 Unemployed 1997 1998 Unemployment rate 1997 1998 Error range of rate, 1998(1) United States(2)........ 203,133 205,220 136,297 137,673 129,558 131,463 6,739 6,210 4.9 4.5 4.4 - 4.6 Northeast........... New England....... Connecticut..... Maine........... Massachusetts... New Hampshire... Rhode Island.... Vermont......... 39,793 10,328 2,523 973 4,726 899 750 457 39,941 10,382 2,530 980 4,750 910 751 461 26,129 7,118 1,723 659 3,260 646 502 327 26,076 7,114 1,709 651 3,273 652 498 330 24,723 6,804 1,635 624 3,129 625 476 314 24,861 6,865 1,652 622 3,164 633 474 319 1,407 314 88 36 131 20 27 13 1,215 250 57 29 109 19 24 11 5.4 4.4 5.1 5.4 4.0 3.1 5.3 4.0 4.7 3.5 3.4 4.4 3.3 2.9 4.9 3.4 4.6 3.3 2.9 3.8 3.0 2.4 4.3 2.9 - 4.8 3.7 3.9 5.0 3.6 3.4 5.5 3.9 Middle Atlantic... New Jersey...... New York........ Pennsylvania.... 29,465 6,197 13,993 9,275 29,559 6,248 14,037 9,274 19,011 4,198 8,835 5,979 18,962 4,155 8,870 5,936 17,919 3,982 8,269 5,668 17,997 3,963 8,372 5,661 1,093 216 566 311 965 192 498 275 5.7 5.1 6.4 5.2 5.1 4.6 5.6 4.6 4.9 4.2 5.3 4.3 - 5.3 5.0 5.9 4.9 Midwest............. East North Central Illinois........ Indiana......... Michigan........ Ohio............ Wisconsin....... 47,386 33,408 9,039 4,456 7,428 8,539 3,946 47,629 33,553 9,082 4,481 7,461 8,561 3,968 33,008 22,900 6,196 3,086 4,962 5,707 2,949 33,152 22,971 6,223 3,088 5,029 5,678 2,952 31,674 21,921 5,904 2,978 4,753 5,445 2,841 31,912 22,063 5,946 2,993 4,835 5,437 2,853 1,335 979 291 108 209 262 108 1,240 908 277 96 194 242 99 4.0 4.3 4.7 3.5 4.2 4.6 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.5 3.1 3.9 4.3 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.2 2.6 3.6 4.0 2.9 - 3.8 4.2 4.8 3.6 4.2 4.6 3.9 West North Central Iowa............ Kansas.......... Minnesota....... Missouri........ Nebraska........ North Dakota.... South Dakota.... 13,978 2,173 1,941 3,523 4,080 1,236 479 546 14,076 2,181 1,962 3,556 4,109 1,241 480 547 10,109 1,579 1,368 2,625 2,893 906 348 390 10,181 1,570 1,411 2,682 2,857 916 347 398 9,753 1,528 1,317 2,539 2,770 883 339 378 9,849 1,526 1,357 2,613 2,738 892 336 386 356 51 52 86 123 24 9 12 332 43 54 68 119 25 11 11 3.5 3.3 3.8 3.3 4.2 2.6 2.5 3.1 3.3 2.8 3.8 2.5 4.2 2.7 3.2 2.9 3.1 2.4 3.3 2.1 3.7 2.3 2.7 2.5 - 3.5 3.2 4.3 2.9 4.7 3.1 3.7 3.4 South............... South Atlantic.... Delaware........ District of Columbia......... Florida......... Georgia......... Maryland........ North Carolina.. South Carolina.. 71,491 37,011 567 72,524 37,530 574 47,176 24,441 382 47,834 24,706 392 44,851 23,331 366 45,722 23,702 377 2,325 1,110 15 2,113 1,004 15 4.9 4.5 4.0 4.4 4.1 3.8 4.3 3.9 3.3 - 4.5 4.3 4.3 418 11,425 5,637 3,905 5,605 2,897 414 11,610 5,758 3,941 5,680 2,942 258 7,119 3,907 2,784 3,844 1,931 267 7,228 4,021 2,756 3,794 1,959 238 6,781 3,730 2,642 3,705 1,843 244 6,918 3,852 2,631 3,663 1,884 20 339 177 141 139 87 24 310 169 125 131 75 7.9 4.8 4.5 5.1 3.6 4.5 8.8 4.3 4.2 4.6 3.5 3.8 8.0 4.0 3.7 4.0 3.1 3.3 - 9.6 4.6 4.7 5.2 3.9 4.3 Virginia........ West Virginia... 5,108 1,449 5,159 1,452 3,413 803 3,488 800 3,278 748 3,386 747 135 55 102 53 4.0 6.9 2.9 6.6 2.5 5.9 - 3.3 7.3 East South Central Alabama......... Kentucky........ Mississippi..... Tennessee....... 12,526 3,329 3,002 2,037 4,158 12,647 3,356 3,020 2,059 4,212 8,056 2,168 1,917 1,262 2,708 8,105 2,153 1,924 1,269 2,760 7,624 2,058 1,814 1,190 2,562 7,741 2,062 1,835 1,200 2,644 432 110 103 72 146 364 91 89 68 116 5.4 5.1 5.4 5.7 5.4 4.5 4.2 4.6 5.4 4.2 4.2 3.7 4.0 4.8 3.7 - 4.8 4.7 5.2 6.0 4.7 West South Central Arkansas........ Louisiana....... Oklahoma........ Texas........... 21,954 1,923 3,243 2,494 14,294 22,347 1,941 3,274 2,521 14,611 14,679 1,214 2,014 1,601 9,850 15,024 1,215 2,063 1,627 10,118 13,896 1,150 1,891 1,535 9,320 14,279 1,148 1,945 1,554 9,631 783 64 123 66 530 745 67 118 74 487 5.3 5.3 6.1 4.1 5.4 5.0 5.5 5.7 4.5 4.8 4.8 4.9 5.1 3.9 4.5 - 5.2 6.1 6.3 5.1 5.1 West................ Mountain.......... Arizona......... Colorado........ Idaho........... Montana......... Nevada.......... New Mexico...... Utah............ Wyoming......... 44,469 12,322 3,426 2,955 897 677 1,271 1,282 1,450 364 45,345 12,598 3,525 3,016 917 682 1,319 1,295 1,477 367 29,984 8,414 2,185 2,152 633 455 883 815 1,040 251 30,755 8,710 2,272 2,246 653 468 920 831 1,063 258 28,311 8,052 2,083 2,081 599 431 847 764 1,008 239 29,105 8,328 2,178 2,159 620 442 880 780 1,023 246 1,673 362 102 70 34 24 36 51 32 13 1,650 383 94 86 33 26 40 51 40 12 5.6 4.3 4.6 3.3 5.3 5.4 4.1 6.2 3.1 5.1 5.4 4.4 4.1 3.8 5.0 5.6 4.3 6.2 3.8 4.8 5.2 4.2 3.6 3.3 4.4 5.0 3.8 5.5 3.3 4.2 - 5.6 4.6 4.6 4.3 5.6 6.2 4.8 6.9 4.3 5.4 Pacific........... Alaska.......... California...... Hawaii.......... Oregon.......... Washington...... 32,147 425 24,064 880 2,519 4,259 32,747 427 24,559 886 2,550 4,325 21,570 315 15,941 597 1,728 2,989 22,045 317 16,329 597 1,762 3,039 20,259 290 14,937 559 1,627 2,847 20,777 299 15,361 560 1,664 2,895 1,310 25 1,004 38 101 142 1,267 18 969 37 98 145 6.1 7.9 6.3 6.4 5.8 4.8 5.7 5.8 5.9 6.2 5.6 4.8 5.5 5.2 5.6 5.5 5.0 4.2 - 5.9 6.4 6.2 6.9 6.2 5.4 Puerto Rico(3)...... 2,722 2,760 1,308 1,311 1,132 1,136 176 175 13.5 13.3 (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 Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources. 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.