Full text of 2001 Annual Averages : Text File, USDL 02-97
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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 per-
cent; 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 Ne-
braska, 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
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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 per-
centage 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 per-
centage 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 employment-
population 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.
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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 infor-
mation 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 Employed Unemployed Unemployment
force rate Error range of
Region, division, rate, 2001(1)
and state
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................. 40,247 40,404 26,295 26,296 25,281 25,140 1,014 1,156 3.9 4.4 4.3 - 4.5
New England............ 10,502 10,571 7,194 7,212 6,995 6,948 199 264 2.8 3.7 3.5 - 3.9
Connecticut......... 2,537 2,545 1,746 1,718 1,707 1,661 39 56 2.3 3.3 2.9 - 3.7
Maine............... 998 1,011 689 684 665 657 24 27 3.5 4.0 3.5 - 4.5
Massachusetts....... 4,804 4,828 3,237 3,284 3,151 3,163 86 121 2.6 3.7 3.3 - 4.1
New Hampshire....... 939 954 686 689 666 664 19 24 2.8 3.5 3.1 - 3.9
Rhode Island........ 753 757 505 504 484 480 21 24 4.1 4.7 4.2 - 5.2
Vermont............. 471 476 332 335 322 323 10 12 2.9 3.6 3.2 - 4.0
Middle Atlantic........ 29,745 29,833 19,101 19,084 18,286 18,192 815 892 4.3 4.7 4.5 - 4.9
New Jersey.......... 6,292 6,322 4,188 4,179 4,030 4,004 157 176 3.8 4.2 3.8 - 4.6
New York............ 14,163 14,209 8,941 8,832 8,533 8,402 408 429 4.6 4.9 4.6 - 5.2
Pennsylvania........ 9,290 9,301 5,972 6,073 5,722 5,786 250 287 4.2 4.7 4.4 - 5.0
Midwest................... 48,222 48,517 33,729 33,904 32,493 32,356 1,236 1,548 3.7 4.6 4.5 - 4.7
East North Central..... 33,931 34,111 23,422 23,478 22,517 22,338 905 1,140 3.9 4.9 4.7 - 5.1
Illinois............ 9,199 9,244 6,419 6,349 6,140 6,006 279 343 4.4 5.4 5.0 - 5.8
Indiana............. 4,529 4,557 3,084 3,106 2,984 2,970 100 136 3.2 4.4 3.9 - 4.9
Michigan............ 7,548 7,594 5,201 5,175 5,016 4,901 185 274 3.6 5.3 4.9 - 5.7
Ohio................ 8,624 8,646 5,783 5,857 5,546 5,606 237 251 4.1 4.3 4.0 - 4.6
Wisconsin........... 4,031 4,070 2,935 2,991 2,831 2,854 104 136 3.5 4.6 4.1 - 5.1
West North Central..... 14,291 14,406 10,307 10,426 9,976 10,018 331 408 3.2 3.9 3.7 - 4.1
Iowa................ 2,193 2,199 1,563 1,588 1,522 1,535 41 53 2.6 3.3 2.9 - 3.7
Kansas.............. 2,001 2,013 1,411 1,381 1,359 1,322 52 59 3.7 4.3 3.8 - 4.8
Minnesota........... 3,648 3,697 2,739 2,814 2,649 2,710 90 104 3.3 3.7 3.3 - 4.1
Missouri............ 4,166 4,200 2,930 2,970 2,828 2,830 101 140 3.5 4.7 4.2 - 5.2
Nebraska............ 1,254 1,262 924 928 897 899 28 29 3.0 3.1 2.7 - 3.5
North Dakota........ 477 477 339 339 329 329 10 10 3.0 2.8 2.4 - 3.2
South Dakota........ 552 557 401 405 392 392 9 13 2.3 3.3 2.9 - 3.7
South..................... 74,337 75,277 49,035 49,426 47,104 47,076 1,931 2,350 3.9 4.8 4.7 - 4.9
South Atlantic......... 38,528 39,040 25,534 25,792 24,624 24,618 910 1,174 3.6 4.6 4.4 - 4.8
Delaware............ 588 595 409 419 393 404 16 15 4.0 3.5 3.0 - 4.0
District of Columbia 413 412 279 278 263 260 16 18 5.8 6.5 5.8 - 7.2
Florida............. 11,960 12,144 7,490 7,674 7,221 7,309 269 365 3.6 4.8 4.5 - 5.1
Georgia............. 5,967 6,077 4,173 4,132 4,019 3,966 154 165 3.7 4.0 3.5 - 4.5
Maryland............ 4,015 4,057 2,805 2,837 2,697 2,722 108 116 3.9 4.1 3.6 - 4.6
North Carolina...... 5,809 5,863 3,958 3,995 3,814 3,773 144 221 3.6 5.5 5.0 - 6.0
South Carolina...... 3,032 3,072 1,985 1,949 1,909 1,843 77 106 3.9 5.4 4.8 - 6.0
Virginia............ 5,299 5,374 3,610 3,675 3,530 3,548 80 127 2.2 3.5 3.1 - 3.9
West Virginia....... 1,445 1,444 825 833 779 792 46 41 5.5 4.9 4.4 - 5.4
East South Central..... 12,853 12,949 8,261 8,229 7,895 7,809 366 420 4.4 5.1 4.8 - 5.4
Alabama............. 3,401 3,418 2,154 2,148 2,055 2,033 99 114 4.6 5.3 4.7 - 5.9
Kentucky............ 3,082 3,110 1,982 1,968 1,900 1,860 82 108 4.1 5.5 4.9 - 6.1
Mississippi......... 2,086 2,100 1,326 1,296 1,251 1,225 75 72 5.7 5.5 4.8 - 6.2
Tennessee........... 4,284 4,320 2,798 2,818 2,688 2,692 110 126 3.9 4.5 3.9 - 5.1
West South Central..... 22,956 23,288 15,240 15,405 14,585 14,649 655 756 4.3 4.9 4.7 - 5.1
Arkansas............ 1,977 1,999 1,238 1,227 1,183 1,164 55 63 4.4 5.1 4.5 - 5.7
Louisiana........... 3,289 3,299 2,030 2,050 1,917 1,928 112 122 5.5 6.0 5.3 - 6.7
Oklahoma............ 2,558 2,576 1,648 1,665 1,598 1,602 50 64 3.0 3.8 3.3 - 4.3
Texas............... 15,132 15,414 10,325 10,463 9,887 9,955 437 507 4.2 4.9 4.6 - 5.2
West...................... 46,891 47,666 31,806 32,189 30,333 30,501 1,473 1,688 4.6 5.2 5.0 - 5.4
Mountain............... 13,033 13,271 8,949 9,110 8,614 8,702 336 407 3.8 4.5 4.3 - 4.7
Arizona............. 3,626 3,690 2,347 2,420 2,256 2,307 91 113 3.9 4.7 4.1 - 5.3
Colorado............ 3,141 3,203 2,276 2,295 2,213 2,210 63 85 2.7 3.7 3.3 - 4.1
Idaho............... 951 969 658 682 626 648 32 34 4.9 5.0 4.4 - 5.6
Montana............. 691 698 479 465 456 444 24 21 4.9 4.6 4.0 - 5.2
Nevada.............. 1,408 1,453 986 1,023 946 969 40 55 4.1 5.3 4.8 - 5.8
New Mexico.......... 1,318 1,331 833 838 792 798 40 40 4.9 4.8 4.2 - 5.4
Utah................ 1,527 1,552 1,104 1,115 1,068 1,067 36 49 3.2 4.4 3.9 - 4.9
Wyoming............. 371 375 267 271 257 261 10 11 3.9 3.9 3.4 - 4.4
Pacific................ 33,858 34,395 22,856 23,079 21,719 21,798 1,137 1,281 5.0 5.5 5.3 - 5.7
Alaska.............. 438 442 322 322 301 302 21 20 6.6 6.3 5.7 - 6.9
California.......... 25,489 25,939 17,091 17,362 16,246 16,435 845 927 4.9 5.3 5.0 - 5.6
Hawaii.............. 889 893 595 606 570 577 26 28 4.3 4.6 4.1 - 5.1
Oregon.............. 2,608 2,633 1,803 1,794 1,715 1,680 87 114 4.9 6.3 5.7 - 6.9
Washington.......... 4,434 4,487 3,045 2,996 2,888 2,804 158 192 5.2 6.4 5.7 - 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) Over-the-year
Region, division, and state change
2000 2001
United States .......... 64.5 63.8 -0.7
Northeast ................ 62.8 62.2 -.6
New England ............. 66.6 65.7 -.9
Connecticut ............ 67.3 65.3 -2.0
Maine .................. 66.6 65.0 -1.6
Massachusetts .......... 65.6 65.5 -.1
New Hampshire .......... 71.0 69.7 -1.3
Rhode Island ........... 64.3 63.4 -.9
Vermont ................ 68.3 67.7 -.6
Middle Atlantic ......... 61.5 61.0 -.5
New Jersey ............. 64.1 63.3 -.8
New York ............... 60.3 59.1 -1.2
Pennsylvania ........... 61.6 62.2 .6
Midwest .................. 67.4 66.7 -.7
East North Central ...... 66.4 65.5 -.9
Illinois ............... 66.7 65.0 -1.7
Indiana ................ 65.9 65.2 -.7
Michigan ............... 66.5 64.5 -2.0
Ohio ................... 64.3 64.8 .5
Wisconsin .............. 70.2 70.1 -.1
West North Central ...... 69.8 69.5 -.3
Iowa ................... 69.4 69.8 .4
Kansas ................. 67.9 65.7 -2.2
Minnesota .............. 72.6 73.3 .7
Missouri ............... 67.9 67.4 -.5
Nebraska ............... 71.5 71.3 -.2
North Dakota ........... 68.9 69.0 .1
South Dakota ........... 71.0 70.2 -.8
South .................... 63.4 62.5 -.9
South Atlantic .......... 63.9 63.1 -.8
Delaware ............... 66.8 67.9 1.1
District Of Columbia ... 63.6 63.1 -.5
Florida ................ 60.4 60.2 -.2
Georgia ................ 67.4 65.3 -2.1
Maryland ............... 67.2 67.1 -.1
North Carolina ......... 65.7 64.4 -1.3
South Carolina ......... 63.0 60.0 -3.0
Virginia ............... 66.6 66.0 -.6
West Virginia .......... 53.9 54.9 1.0
East South Central ...... 61.4 60.3 -1.1
Alabama ................ 60.4 59.5 -.9
Kentucky ............... 61.7 59.8 -1.9
Mississippi ............ 60.0 58.3 -1.7
Tennessee .............. 62.7 62.3 -.4
West South Central ...... 63.5 62.9 -.6
Arkansas ............... 59.8 58.2 -1.6
Louisiana .............. 58.3 58.4 .1
Oklahoma ............... 62.5 62.2 -.3
Texas .................. 65.3 64.6 -.7
West ..................... 64.7 64.0 -.7
Mountain ................ 66.1 65.6 -.5
Arizona ................ 62.2 62.5 .3
Colorado ............... 70.5 69.0 -1.5
Idaho .................. 65.8 66.9 1.1
Montana ................ 65.9 63.6 -2.3
Nevada ................. 67.2 66.7 -.5
New Mexico ............. 60.1 60.0 -.1
Utah ................... 70.0 68.7 -1.3
Wyoming ................ 69.2 69.5 .3
Pacific ................. 64.1 63.4 -.7
Alaska ................. 68.6 68.2 -.4
California ............. 63.7 63.4 -.3
Hawaii ................. 64.1 64.7 .6
Oregon ................. 65.8 63.8 -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.