25 States Recorded Unemployment Rate Decreases in September; 14 Posted Increases

Earlier today, the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) released their Regional and State Unemployment and Unemployment Summary for September.

The report was pretty much a mixed bag of good and bad news.

25 states recorded unemployment rate decreases in September, while 14 states posted rate increases. 11 states, plus the District of Columbia, posted no rate changes in September.

38 states posted unemployment rate decreases from one year earlier, while 10 states (plus the District of Columbia) posted increases. 2 states experienced no change.

Nonfarm payroll employment dropped in 25 states in September, while 24 states (and the District of Columbia) posted increases. North Carolina posted the largest over-the-month decrease in nonfarm payroll employment (-22,200), while Florida posted the largest increase (+23,300).

The West posted the highest regional unemployment rate in September (10.4%), while the Northeast posted the lowest rate (8.2%).

Let's look at the states (including DC and Puerto Rico) that posted the highest and lowest unemployment rates in September:

Highest:

Puerto Rico with a rate of 15.1%
Nevada with a rate of 13.4%
California with a rate of 11.9%
District of Columbia with a rate of 11.1%
Michigan with a rate of 11.1%

Lowest:

North Dakota with a rate of 3.5%
Nebraska with a rate of 4.2%
South Dakota with a rate of 4.6%
New Hampshire with a rate of 5.4%
Vermont with a rate of 5.8%

Excluding Puerto Rico, Nevada once again posted the highest unemployment rate in September. Their state unemployment rate started the year at 14.2%, dropped as low as 12.1% in May and has now ticked back up to 13.4%.

Source: BLS.gov

Source: Historical State Unemployment Rates

Filed under: General Knowledge