Full text of 1998 Annual Averages : Text File, USDL 99-46
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Technical information: (202) 606-6392 USDL 99-46
For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact: 606-5902 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. Twenty-
eight 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
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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 im-
paired 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 Civilian labor Employed Unemployed Unemployment
Region, division, force rate Error range
and state of rate,
1998(1)
1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
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........... 39,793 39,941 26,129 26,076 24,723 24,861 1,407 1,215 5.4 4.7 4.6 - 4.8
New England....... 10,328 10,382 7,118 7,114 6,804 6,865 314 250 4.4 3.5 3.3 - 3.7
Connecticut..... 2,523 2,530 1,723 1,709 1,635 1,652 88 57 5.1 3.4 2.9 - 3.9
Maine........... 973 980 659 651 624 622 36 29 5.4 4.4 3.8 - 5.0
Massachusetts... 4,726 4,750 3,260 3,273 3,129 3,164 131 109 4.0 3.3 3.0 - 3.6
New Hampshire... 899 910 646 652 625 633 20 19 3.1 2.9 2.4 - 3.4
Rhode Island.... 750 751 502 498 476 474 27 24 5.3 4.9 4.3 - 5.5
Vermont......... 457 461 327 330 314 319 13 11 4.0 3.4 2.9 - 3.9
Middle Atlantic... 29,465 29,559 19,011 18,962 17,919 17,997 1,093 965 5.7 5.1 4.9 - 5.3
New Jersey...... 6,197 6,248 4,198 4,155 3,982 3,963 216 192 5.1 4.6 4.2 - 5.0
New York........ 13,993 14,037 8,835 8,870 8,269 8,372 566 498 6.4 5.6 5.3 - 5.9
Pennsylvania.... 9,275 9,274 5,979 5,936 5,668 5,661 311 275 5.2 4.6 4.3 - 4.9
Midwest............. 47,386 47,629 33,008 33,152 31,674 31,912 1,335 1,240 4.0 3.7 3.6 - 3.8
East North Central 33,408 33,553 22,900 22,971 21,921 22,063 979 908 4.3 4.0 3.8 - 4.2
Illinois........ 9,039 9,082 6,196 6,223 5,904 5,946 291 277 4.7 4.5 4.2 - 4.8
Indiana......... 4,456 4,481 3,086 3,088 2,978 2,993 108 96 3.5 3.1 2.6 - 3.6
Michigan........ 7,428 7,461 4,962 5,029 4,753 4,835 209 194 4.2 3.9 3.6 - 4.2
Ohio............ 8,539 8,561 5,707 5,678 5,445 5,437 262 242 4.6 4.3 4.0 - 4.6
Wisconsin....... 3,946 3,968 2,949 2,952 2,841 2,853 108 99 3.7 3.4 2.9 - 3.9
West North Central 13,978 14,076 10,109 10,181 9,753 9,849 356 332 3.5 3.3 3.1 - 3.5
Iowa............ 2,173 2,181 1,579 1,570 1,528 1,526 51 43 3.3 2.8 2.4 - 3.2
Kansas.......... 1,941 1,962 1,368 1,411 1,317 1,357 52 54 3.8 3.8 3.3 - 4.3
Minnesota....... 3,523 3,556 2,625 2,682 2,539 2,613 86 68 3.3 2.5 2.1 - 2.9
Missouri........ 4,080 4,109 2,893 2,857 2,770 2,738 123 119 4.2 4.2 3.7 - 4.7
Nebraska........ 1,236 1,241 906 916 883 892 24 25 2.6 2.7 2.3 - 3.1
North Dakota.... 479 480 348 347 339 336 9 11 2.5 3.2 2.7 - 3.7
South Dakota.... 546 547 390 398 378 386 12 11 3.1 2.9 2.5 - 3.4
South............... 71,491 72,524 47,176 47,834 44,851 45,722 2,325 2,113 4.9 4.4 4.3 - 4.5
South Atlantic.... 37,011 37,530 24,441 24,706 23,331 23,702 1,110 1,004 4.5 4.1 3.9 - 4.3
Delaware........ 567 574 382 392 366 377 15 15 4.0 3.8 3.3 - 4.3
District of
Columbia......... 418 414 258 267 238 244 20 24 7.9 8.8 8.0 - 9.6
Florida......... 11,425 11,610 7,119 7,228 6,781 6,918 339 310 4.8 4.3 4.0 - 4.6
Georgia......... 5,637 5,758 3,907 4,021 3,730 3,852 177 169 4.5 4.2 3.7 - 4.7
Maryland........ 3,905 3,941 2,784 2,756 2,642 2,631 141 125 5.1 4.6 4.0 - 5.2
North Carolina.. 5,605 5,680 3,844 3,794 3,705 3,663 139 131 3.6 3.5 3.1 - 3.9
South Carolina.. 2,897 2,942 1,931 1,959 1,843 1,884 87 75 4.5 3.8 3.3 - 4.3
Virginia........ 5,108 5,159 3,413 3,488 3,278 3,386 135 102 4.0 2.9 2.5 - 3.3
West Virginia... 1,449 1,452 803 800 748 747 55 53 6.9 6.6 5.9 - 7.3
East South Central 12,526 12,647 8,056 8,105 7,624 7,741 432 364 5.4 4.5 4.2 - 4.8
Alabama......... 3,329 3,356 2,168 2,153 2,058 2,062 110 91 5.1 4.2 3.7 - 4.7
Kentucky........ 3,002 3,020 1,917 1,924 1,814 1,835 103 89 5.4 4.6 4.0 - 5.2
Mississippi..... 2,037 2,059 1,262 1,269 1,190 1,200 72 68 5.7 5.4 4.8 - 6.0
Tennessee....... 4,158 4,212 2,708 2,760 2,562 2,644 146 116 5.4 4.2 3.7 - 4.7
West South Central 21,954 22,347 14,679 15,024 13,896 14,279 783 745 5.3 5.0 4.8 - 5.2
Arkansas........ 1,923 1,941 1,214 1,215 1,150 1,148 64 67 5.3 5.5 4.9 - 6.1
Louisiana....... 3,243 3,274 2,014 2,063 1,891 1,945 123 118 6.1 5.7 5.1 - 6.3
Oklahoma........ 2,494 2,521 1,601 1,627 1,535 1,554 66 74 4.1 4.5 3.9 - 5.1
Texas........... 14,294 14,611 9,850 10,118 9,320 9,631 530 487 5.4 4.8 4.5 - 5.1
West................ 44,469 45,345 29,984 30,755 28,311 29,105 1,673 1,650 5.6 5.4 5.2 - 5.6
Mountain.......... 12,322 12,598 8,414 8,710 8,052 8,328 362 383 4.3 4.4 4.2 - 4.6
Arizona......... 3,426 3,525 2,185 2,272 2,083 2,178 102 94 4.6 4.1 3.6 - 4.6
Colorado........ 2,955 3,016 2,152 2,246 2,081 2,159 70 86 3.3 3.8 3.3 - 4.3
Idaho........... 897 917 633 653 599 620 34 33 5.3 5.0 4.4 - 5.6
Montana......... 677 682 455 468 431 442 24 26 5.4 5.6 5.0 - 6.2
Nevada.......... 1,271 1,319 883 920 847 880 36 40 4.1 4.3 3.8 - 4.8
New Mexico...... 1,282 1,295 815 831 764 780 51 51 6.2 6.2 5.5 - 6.9
Utah............ 1,450 1,477 1,040 1,063 1,008 1,023 32 40 3.1 3.8 3.3 - 4.3
Wyoming......... 364 367 251 258 239 246 13 12 5.1 4.8 4.2 - 5.4
Pacific........... 32,147 32,747 21,570 22,045 20,259 20,777 1,310 1,267 6.1 5.7 5.5 - 5.9
Alaska.......... 425 427 315 317 290 299 25 18 7.9 5.8 5.2 - 6.4
California...... 24,064 24,559 15,941 16,329 14,937 15,361 1,004 969 6.3 5.9 5.6 - 6.2
Hawaii.......... 880 886 597 597 559 560 38 37 6.4 6.2 5.5 - 6.9
Oregon.......... 2,519 2,550 1,728 1,762 1,627 1,664 101 98 5.8 5.6 5.0 - 6.2
Washington...... 4,259 4,325 2,989 3,039 2,847 2,895 142 145 4.8 4.8 4.2 - 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.