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Technical information: (202) 691-6392 http://www.bls.gov/lau/ Media contact: 691-5902 USDL 02-97 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Friday, February 22, 2002 STATE AND REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT, 2001 ANNUAL AVERAGES Annual average unemployment rates rose in more than half the states in 2001 for the first time since 1992, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The four census regions and nine geographic divisions all recorded rate increases. Employment-population ratios declined in 38 states and the District of Columbia. At the national level, the annual average jobless rate rose from 4.0 percent in 2000 to 4.8 percent in 2001, and the employment-population ratio decreased by 0.7 percentage point to 63.8 percent. State Unemployment As the nation moved into a recession, most states experienced rising unemployment rates. Compared with 2000, jobless rates in 2001 were higher in 42 states and the District of Columbia, lower in 7 states, and unchanged in 1 state. Eighteen states reported rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more. Of these 18 states, 6 were located in the Midwest, 5 each were in the South and West, and 2 were in the Northeast. North Carolina had the largest increase (+1.9 percentage points), followed by Michigan (+1.7 points) and South Carolina (+1.5 points). Fourteen additional states and the District of Columbia recorded rate increases of at least one-half percentage point from 2000. In sharp contrast, only two states experienced declines of 0.5 percentage point or more in their annual average unemployment rates--West Virginia's rate was down by 0.6 point, and Delaware's rate declined by 0.5 point. Despite the recession, the 2001 unemployment rates in three states were the lowest annual rates in their series: Montana, 4.6 percent; New Mexico, 4.8 percent; and West Virginia, 4.9 percent. (All annual state series date back to at least 1976.) (See table 1.) In 2001, the states with the highest jobless rates were located in the Pacific division. Washington registered the highest rate, 6.4 percent, followed closely by Alaska and Oregon, 6.3 percent each. (The District of Columbia's rate was 6.5 percent.) Louisiana, at 6.0 percent, was the only other state to record a rate over 5.5 percent for 2001. North Dakota posted the lowest annual average unemployment rate, 2.8 percent, followed by Nebraska, 3.1 percent. Overall, 30 states had unemployment rates below the national average, while 18 states and the District of Columbia reported higher rates. All seven states in the West North Central division and all six in New England had rates below the U.S. average. Four of the five Pacific states and three of the four states in both the East South Central and West South Central divisions recorded rates above the national average. Regional Unemployment For the 10th consecutive year, the West registered the highest regional unemployment rate, 5.2 percent. The Northeast reported the lowest rate for - 2 the first time in 11 years, 4.4 percent, a position held by the Midwest since 1991. The range between the high and low regional unemployment rates narrowed slightly. The last time the difference between the highest and lowest regional rates was this small, 0.8 percentage point, was in 1991. The Midwest and South had the largest rate increases from 2000 (+0.9 percentage point each), while the Northeast and West posted smaller increases (+0.5 and +0.6 point, respectively). Among the nation's nine geographic divisions, the Pacific division, at 5.5 percent, registered the highest jobless rate for the 10th consecutive year. The East South Central division had the only other rate over 5.0 percent--5.1 percent. For the second year in a row, New England recorded the lowest unemployment rate, 3.7 percent, followed by the West North Central division, 3.9 percent. The East North Central and South Atlantic divisions posted the largest over-the-year rate increases (+1.0 percentage point each), followed by New England (+0.9 point). The Middle Atlantic division had the smallest jobless rate increase from 2000 (+0.4 point). Employment-Population Ratios In 2001, 38 states and the District of Columbia reported declines in their employment-population ratios--the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and over with a job--while 12 states had increases. The largest drops occurred in South Carolina (-3.0 percentage points) and Washington (-2.6 points). Six additional states recorded declines of 2.0 percentage points or more from 2000, and 10 others registered declines of at least 1.0 point. The largest increases were in Delaware and Idaho (+1.1 percentage points each) and West Virginia (+1.0 point). Four more states had increases ranging from +0.5 point to +0.7 point. (See table 2.) West Virginia again posted the lowest employment-population ratio, 54.9 percent, despite an increase of 1.0 percentage point from 2000. Three additional Southern states had the next lowest ratios--Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi--all below 59.0 percent. Minnesota again reported the highest proportion of employed persons, 73.3 percent, up by 0.7 point from its 2000 ratio. Four other Midwestern states--Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin--registered the next highest employment-population ratios. Of these, only Iowa had a ratio of less than 70.0 percent. Thirty states recorded employment-population ratios higher than the U.S. figure of 63.8 percent, while 19 states and the District of Columbia had lower ratios. All four regions posted declines in their annual average employmentpopulation ratios from 2000, ranging from -0.6 percentage point in the Northeast to -0.9 point in the South. Regional ratios again were higher than the U.S. average in the Midwest (66.7 percent) and the West (64.0 percent) and lower in the South (62.5 percent) and Northeast (62.2 percent). Of the nine geographic divisions, the East South Central reported the largest decrease in its annual average employment-population ratio relative to 2000 (-1.1 percentage points). The East North Central division and New England recorded the next largest decreases (-0.9 point each). The relatively agrarian West North Central division registered the smallest decline (-0.3 point) in 2001. All states in the East North Central and West North Central divisions had ratios above that of the U.S., while all those in the Middle Atlantic and East South Central divisions had ratios below it. - 3 Note All estimates presented in this release, except those for Puerto Rico, were derived from the Current Population Survey, a sample survey conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau. A description of the survey and information about the reliability of the state estimates appear in Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment, 1999, Bulletin 2537. Annual averages are calculated using data from the expanded 60,000-household sample for all the months of 2001. For more information on the sample expansion, see "Expansion of the Current Population Survey Sample Effective July 2001" in the August 2001 issue of Employment and Earnings. The length of the annual series varies by state and ranges from 26 to 32 years. The region and division annual series begin in 1976. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339. Table 1. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state, 2000-01 annual averages (Numbers in thousands) Population Civilian labor force Employed Unemployed Unemployment rate Region, division, and state Error range of rate, 2001(1) 2000 2001 2000 2001 2000 2001 2000 2001 2000 2001 United States(2)... 209,699 211,864 140,863 141,815 135,208 135,073 5,655 6,742 4.0 4.8 4.7 - 4.9 Northeast................. New England............ Connecticut......... Maine............... Massachusetts....... New Hampshire....... Rhode Island........ Vermont............. 40,247 10,502 2,537 998 4,804 939 753 471 40,404 10,571 2,545 1,011 4,828 954 757 476 26,295 7,194 1,746 689 3,237 686 505 332 26,296 7,212 1,718 684 3,284 689 504 335 25,281 6,995 1,707 665 3,151 666 484 322 25,140 6,948 1,661 657 3,163 664 480 323 1,014 199 39 24 86 19 21 10 1,156 264 56 27 121 24 24 12 3.9 2.8 2.3 3.5 2.6 2.8 4.1 2.9 4.4 3.7 3.3 4.0 3.7 3.5 4.7 3.6 4.3 3.5 2.9 3.5 3.3 3.1 4.2 3.2 - 4.5 3.9 3.7 4.5 4.1 3.9 5.2 4.0 Middle Atlantic........ New Jersey.......... New York............ Pennsylvania........ 29,745 6,292 14,163 9,290 29,833 6,322 14,209 9,301 19,101 4,188 8,941 5,972 19,084 4,179 8,832 6,073 18,286 4,030 8,533 5,722 18,192 4,004 8,402 5,786 815 157 408 250 892 176 429 287 4.3 3.8 4.6 4.2 4.7 4.2 4.9 4.7 4.5 3.8 4.6 4.4 - 4.9 4.6 5.2 5.0 Midwest................... East North Central..... Illinois............ Indiana............. Michigan............ Ohio................ Wisconsin........... 48,222 33,931 9,199 4,529 7,548 8,624 4,031 48,517 34,111 9,244 4,557 7,594 8,646 4,070 33,729 23,422 6,419 3,084 5,201 5,783 2,935 33,904 23,478 6,349 3,106 5,175 5,857 2,991 32,493 22,517 6,140 2,984 5,016 5,546 2,831 32,356 22,338 6,006 2,970 4,901 5,606 2,854 1,236 905 279 100 185 237 104 1,548 1,140 343 136 274 251 136 3.7 3.9 4.4 3.2 3.6 4.1 3.5 4.6 4.9 5.4 4.4 5.3 4.3 4.6 4.5 4.7 5.0 3.9 4.9 4.0 4.1 - 4.7 5.1 5.8 4.9 5.7 4.6 5.1 West North Central..... Iowa................ Kansas.............. Minnesota........... Missouri............ Nebraska............ North Dakota........ South Dakota........ 14,291 2,193 2,001 3,648 4,166 1,254 477 552 14,406 2,199 2,013 3,697 4,200 1,262 477 557 10,307 1,563 1,411 2,739 2,930 924 339 401 10,426 1,588 1,381 2,814 2,970 928 339 405 9,976 1,522 1,359 2,649 2,828 897 329 392 10,018 1,535 1,322 2,710 2,830 899 329 392 331 41 52 90 101 28 10 9 408 53 59 104 140 29 10 13 3.2 2.6 3.7 3.3 3.5 3.0 3.0 2.3 3.9 3.3 4.3 3.7 4.7 3.1 2.8 3.3 3.7 2.9 3.8 3.3 4.2 2.7 2.4 2.9 - 4.1 3.7 4.8 4.1 5.2 3.5 3.2 3.7 South..................... South Atlantic......... Delaware............ District of Columbia Florida............. Georgia............. Maryland............ North Carolina...... South Carolina...... Virginia............ West Virginia....... 74,337 38,528 588 413 11,960 5,967 4,015 5,809 3,032 5,299 1,445 75,277 39,040 595 412 12,144 6,077 4,057 5,863 3,072 5,374 1,444 49,035 25,534 409 279 7,490 4,173 2,805 3,958 1,985 3,610 825 49,426 25,792 419 278 7,674 4,132 2,837 3,995 1,949 3,675 833 47,104 24,624 393 263 7,221 4,019 2,697 3,814 1,909 3,530 779 47,076 24,618 404 260 7,309 3,966 2,722 3,773 1,843 3,548 792 1,931 910 16 16 269 154 108 144 77 80 46 2,350 1,174 15 18 365 165 116 221 106 127 41 3.9 3.6 4.0 5.8 3.6 3.7 3.9 3.6 3.9 2.2 5.5 4.8 4.6 3.5 6.5 4.8 4.0 4.1 5.5 5.4 3.5 4.9 4.7 4.4 3.0 5.8 4.5 3.5 3.6 5.0 4.8 3.1 4.4 - 4.9 4.8 4.0 7.2 5.1 4.5 4.6 6.0 6.0 3.9 5.4 East South Central..... Alabama............. Kentucky............ Mississippi......... Tennessee........... 12,853 3,401 3,082 2,086 4,284 12,949 3,418 3,110 2,100 4,320 8,261 2,154 1,982 1,326 2,798 8,229 2,148 1,968 1,296 2,818 7,895 2,055 1,900 1,251 2,688 7,809 2,033 1,860 1,225 2,692 366 99 82 75 110 420 114 108 72 126 4.4 4.6 4.1 5.7 3.9 5.1 5.3 5.5 5.5 4.5 4.8 4.7 4.9 4.8 3.9 - 5.4 5.9 6.1 6.2 5.1 West South Central..... Arkansas............ Louisiana........... Oklahoma............ Texas............... 22,956 1,977 3,289 2,558 15,132 23,288 1,999 3,299 2,576 15,414 15,240 1,238 2,030 1,648 10,325 15,405 1,227 2,050 1,665 10,463 14,585 1,183 1,917 1,598 9,887 14,649 1,164 1,928 1,602 9,955 655 55 112 50 437 756 63 122 64 507 4.3 4.4 5.5 3.0 4.2 4.9 5.1 6.0 3.8 4.9 4.7 4.5 5.3 3.3 4.6 - 5.1 5.7 6.7 4.3 5.2 West...................... Mountain............... Arizona............. Colorado............ Idaho............... Montana............. Nevada.............. New Mexico.......... Utah................ Wyoming............. 46,891 13,033 3,626 3,141 951 691 1,408 1,318 1,527 371 47,666 13,271 3,690 3,203 969 698 1,453 1,331 1,552 375 31,806 8,949 2,347 2,276 658 479 986 833 1,104 267 32,189 9,110 2,420 2,295 682 465 1,023 838 1,115 271 30,333 8,614 2,256 2,213 626 456 946 792 1,068 257 30,501 8,702 2,307 2,210 648 444 969 798 1,067 261 1,473 336 91 63 32 24 40 40 36 10 1,688 407 113 85 34 21 55 40 49 11 4.6 3.8 3.9 2.7 4.9 4.9 4.1 4.9 3.2 3.9 5.2 4.5 4.7 3.7 5.0 4.6 5.3 4.8 4.4 3.9 5.0 4.3 4.1 3.3 4.4 4.0 4.8 4.2 3.9 3.4 - 5.4 4.7 5.3 4.1 5.6 5.2 5.8 5.4 4.9 4.4 Pacific................ Alaska.............. California.......... Hawaii.............. Oregon.............. Washington.......... 33,858 438 25,489 889 2,608 4,434 34,395 442 25,939 893 2,633 4,487 22,856 322 17,091 595 1,803 3,045 23,079 322 17,362 606 1,794 2,996 21,719 301 16,246 570 1,715 2,888 21,798 302 16,435 577 1,680 2,804 1,137 21 845 26 87 158 1,281 20 927 28 114 192 5.0 6.6 4.9 4.3 4.9 5.2 5.5 6.3 5.3 4.6 6.3 6.4 5.3 5.7 5.0 4.1 5.7 5.7 - 5.7 6.9 5.6 5.1 6.9 7.1 Puerto Rico(3)............ 2,834 2,873 1,306 1,297 1,174 1,150 132 147 10.1 11.4 (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 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. Annual averages for 2001 from the Current Population Survey are calculated using data from the expanded 60,000-household sample for all the months of 2001. The published monthly estimates for January through June of 2001, however, are based on the old 50,000-household sample survey and were not revised when the expanded sample was introduced with the release of July 2001 data. For more information on the sample expansion, see "Expansion of the Current Population Survey Sample Effective July 2001" in the August 2001 issue of Employment and Earnings. Table 2. Employment-population ratio of persons 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state, 2000-01 annual averages (Percent) Employment-population ratio(1) Region, division, and state Over-the-year change 2000 2001 United States .......... 64.5 63.8 -0.7 Northeast ................ New England ............. Connecticut ............ Maine .................. Massachusetts .......... New Hampshire .......... Rhode Island ........... Vermont ................ 62.8 66.6 67.3 66.6 65.6 71.0 64.3 68.3 62.2 65.7 65.3 65.0 65.5 69.7 63.4 67.7 -.6 -.9 -2.0 -1.6 -.1 -1.3 -.9 -.6 Middle Atlantic ......... New Jersey ............. New York ............... Pennsylvania ........... 61.5 64.1 60.3 61.6 61.0 63.3 59.1 62.2 -.5 -.8 -1.2 .6 Midwest .................. East North Central ...... Illinois ............... Indiana ................ Michigan ............... Ohio ................... Wisconsin .............. 67.4 66.4 66.7 65.9 66.5 64.3 70.2 66.7 65.5 65.0 65.2 64.5 64.8 70.1 -.7 -.9 -1.7 -.7 -2.0 .5 -.1 West North Central ...... Iowa ................... Kansas ................. 69.8 69.4 67.9 69.5 69.8 65.7 -.3 .4 -2.2 Minnesota .............. Missouri ............... Nebraska ............... North Dakota ........... South Dakota ........... 72.6 67.9 71.5 68.9 71.0 73.3 67.4 71.3 69.0 70.2 .7 -.5 -.2 .1 -.8 South .................... South Atlantic .......... Delaware ............... District Of Columbia ... Florida ................ Georgia ................ Maryland ............... North Carolina ......... South Carolina ......... Virginia ............... West Virginia .......... 63.4 63.9 66.8 63.6 60.4 67.4 67.2 65.7 63.0 66.6 53.9 62.5 63.1 67.9 63.1 60.2 65.3 67.1 64.4 60.0 66.0 54.9 -.9 -.8 1.1 -.5 -.2 -2.1 -.1 -1.3 -3.0 -.6 1.0 East South Central ...... Alabama ................ Kentucky ............... Mississippi ............ Tennessee .............. 61.4 60.4 61.7 60.0 62.7 60.3 59.5 59.8 58.3 62.3 -1.1 -.9 -1.9 -1.7 -.4 West South Central ...... Arkansas ............... Louisiana .............. Oklahoma ............... Texas .................. 63.5 59.8 58.3 62.5 65.3 62.9 58.2 58.4 62.2 64.6 -.6 -1.6 .1 -.3 -.7 West ..................... Mountain ................ Arizona ................ Colorado ............... Idaho .................. Montana ................ Nevada ................. New Mexico ............. Utah ................... Wyoming ................ 64.7 66.1 62.2 70.5 65.8 65.9 67.2 60.1 70.0 69.2 64.0 65.6 62.5 69.0 66.9 63.6 66.7 60.0 68.7 69.5 -.7 -.5 .3 -1.5 1.1 -2.3 -.5 -.1 -1.3 .3 Pacific ................. Alaska ................. California ............. Hawaii ................. Oregon ................. 64.1 68.6 63.7 64.1 65.8 63.4 68.2 63.4 64.7 63.8 -.7 -.4 -.3 .6 -2.0 Washington ............. 65.1 62.5 -2.6 Puerto Rico (2)........... 41.4 40.0 -1.4 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over. 2 The source of these data is the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources.