Economic News Release

Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary
For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Friday, December 17, 2010



(NOTE: This release was reissued on Friday, December 17, 2010, to add text in the
second paragraph discussing over-the-year changes in nonfarm payroll employment.)


REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- NOVEMBER 2010


Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in
November. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia recorded un-
employment rate increases, 15 states registered rate decreases, and 14
states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia posted unemploy-
ment rate decreases from a year earlier, 17 states reported increases,
and 5 states had no change. The national jobless rate edged up by 0.2
percentage point between October and November to 9.8 percent, but was
little different from a year earlier.

In November nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 28 states, increased
in 20 states and the District of Columbia, and was unchanged in 2 states.
The largest over-the-month employment decreases were in North Carolina
(-12,500), Massachusetts (-8,600), and Ohio (-7,800). The largest over-
the-month percentage decreases in employment occurred in New Mexico
(-0.5 percent) and Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming (-0.4 percent each). The
largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in Texas
(+19,100) and New Jersey (+10,000). The largest over-the-month percentage
increases in employment were in Alaska (+1.6 percent), Oregon (+0.4 percent),
and Mississippi and New Jersey (+0.3 percent each). Over the year, nonfarm
payroll employment increased in 38 states and the District of Columbia, decreased
in 11 states, and was unchanged in 1 state. The largest over-the-year percentage
increase in employment was reported in the District of Columbia (+3.5 percent),
followed by New Hampshire (+2.8 percent), Texas (+1.9 percent), Minnesota
(+1.7 percent), and North Dakota (+1.5 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage
decrease in employment occurred in Nevada (-2.2 percent), followed by Montana
(-1.0 percent) and Missouri and Rhode Island (-0.7 percent each).

Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

The West reported the highest regional unemployment rate in November,
10.9 percent, while the Northeast recorded the lowest rate, 8.5 percent.
The Midwest was the only region to experience a statistically signif-
icant over-the-month unemployment rate change (-0.1 percentage point).
Two of the 4 regions registered significant rate changes from a year
earlier: the Midwest (-0.8 percentage point) and Northeast (-0.5 point).
(See table 1.)

Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to report the
highest jobless rate, 11.6 percent in November. The West North Central
again registered the lowest rate, 7.2 percent. The East North Central was
the only division with a statistically significant over-the-month unemploy-
ment rate change (-0.2 percentage point). Over the year, three divisions
posted measurable rate decreases: the East North Central and East South
Central (-1.1 percentage points each) and New England (-0.7 point). The
Mountain division experienced the only significant unemployment rate in-
crease from a year earlier (+0.7 percentage point).

State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Nevada continued to register the highest unemployment rate among the
states, 14.3 percent in November. The states with the next highest rates
were California and Michigan, 12.4 percent each, and Florida, 12.0 per-
cent. North Dakota reported the lowest jobless rate, 3.8 percent, fol-
lowed by South Dakota and Nebraska, 4.5 and 4.6 percent, respectively.
In total, 28 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the
U.S. figure of 9.8 percent, 5 states recorded measurably higher rates, and
17 states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appre-
ciably different from that of the nation. (See tables A and 3.)

In November three states experienced statistically significant unemploy-
ment rate increases from October: Georgia and Idaho (+0.3 percentage
point each) and Colorado (+0.2 point). Michigan and Pennsylvania posted
the only measurable over-the-month rate decreases (-0.4 and -0.2 percen-
tage point, respectively). The remaining 45 states and the District of
Columbia registered jobless rates that were not measurably different from
those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as
large numerically as the significant changes.

Thirteen states reported statistically significant over-the-year jobless
rate decreases in November, the largest of which were in Michigan (-2.0 per-
centage points) and Alabama (-1.9 points). The District of Columbia also
posted a significant over-the-year unemployment rate decrease (-1.8 percen-
tage points). Colorado and Utah recorded the only significant rate in-
creases from November 2009 (+1.2 and +0.9 percentage point(s), respectively).
The remaining 35 states registered unemployment rates that were not appre-
ciably different from those of a year earlier. (See table B.)

Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Between October and November, five states recorded statistically signi-
ficant changes in employment. The largest over-the-month statistically
significant job losses occurred in North Carolina (-12,500) and Mas-
sachusetts (-8,600). The only over-the-month statistically significant
job gains occurred in Oregon (+6,300) and Alaska (+5,000).
(See tables C and 5.)

Over the year, 14 states and the District of Columbia reported statist-
ically significant employment increases, while no state experienced a
statistically significant decline in employment. The largest statist-
ically significant over-the-year employment increases were posted in
Texas (+192,100), Pennsylvania (+57,000), Virginia (+48,500), and Min-
nesota (+44,700). (See table D.)

____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for
November is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, at
10:00 a.m. (EST). The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment
news release for December is scheduled to be released on Tuesday,
January 25, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. (EST).


Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly differ-
ent from that of the U.S., November 2010, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 9.8
|
Alaska ..............................| 8.0
Arkansas ............................| 7.9
California ..........................| 12.4
Colorado ............................| 8.6
Connecticut .........................| 9.0
Delaware ............................| 8.4
Florida .............................| 12.0
Hawaii ..............................| 6.4
Iowa ................................| 6.6
Kansas ..............................| 6.8
|
Louisiana ...........................| 8.2
Maine ...............................| 7.3
Maryland ............................| 7.4
Massachusetts .......................| 8.2
Michigan ............................| 12.4
Minnesota ...........................| 7.1
Montana .............................| 7.2
Nebraska ............................| 4.6
Nevada ..............................| 14.3
New Hampshire .......................| 5.4
|
New Mexico ..........................| 8.5
New York ............................| 8.3
North Dakota ........................| 3.8
Oklahoma ............................| 6.9
Pennsylvania ........................| 8.6
Rhode Island ........................| 11.6
South Dakota ........................| 4.5
Texas ...............................| 8.2
Utah ................................| 7.5
Vermont .............................| 5.7
|
Virginia ............................| 6.8
Wisconsin ...........................| 7.6
Wyoming .............................| 6.6