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Unemployment rates declined in 18 states over the year ending November 2018

December 28, 2018

In November 2018, unemployment rates were lower than they were a year earlier in 18 states and essentially unchanged in 32 states and the District of Columbia. The largest declines occurred in New Mexico (–1.4 percentage points), Georgia (–1.0 points), and Alaska (–0.9 points).
Unemployment rates by state, seasonally adjusted, November 2018
State November 2018(p) November 2017 Rate Over-the-year change(p)

Iowa

 2.4% 2.9% -0.5 percentage point(s)

Hawaii

 2.4 2.1 0.3

New Hampshire

 2.5 2.6 -0.1

Idaho

 2.6 3.0 -0.4

Vermont

 2.7 2.9 -0.2

Virginia

 2.8 3.6 -0.8

Minnesota

 2.8 3.3 -0.5

Nebraska

 2.8 2.9 -0.1

North Dakota

 2.8 2.6 0.2

Missouri

 3.0 3.6 -0.6

South Dakota

 3.0 3.4 -0.4

Wisconsin

 3.0 3.2 -0.2

Kansas

 3.2 3.5 -0.3

Utah

 3.2 3.2 0.0

South Carolina

 3.3 4.2 -0.9

Oklahoma

 3.3 4.1 -0.8

Florida

 3.3 3.9 -0.6

Colorado

 3.3 3.0 0.3

Massachusetts

 3.4 3.5 -0.1

Maine

 3.4 3.1 0.3

Georgia

 3.5 4.5 -1.0

North Carolina

 3.6 4.5 -0.9

Arkansas

 3.6 3.7 -0.1

Indiana

 3.6 3.4 0.2

Tennessee

 3.6 3.3 0.3

Montana

 3.7 4.1 -0.4

Texas

 3.7 3.9 -0.2

Delaware

 3.8 4.5 -0.7

Rhode Island

 3.8 4.5 -0.7

Michigan

 3.9 4.7 -0.8

New York

 3.9 4.7 -0.8

Oregon

 3.9 4.2 -0.3

New Jersey

 4.0 4.7 -0.7

Maryland

 4.0 4.1 -0.1

Alabama

 4.0 3.8 0.2

California

 4.1 4.5 -0.4

Connecticut

 4.1 4.5 -0.4

Wyoming

 4.1 4.2 -0.1

Illinois

 4.2 4.9 -0.7

Pennsylvania

 4.2 4.8 -0.6

Washington

 4.3 4.7 -0.4

Nevada

 4.4 4.9 -0.5

Kentucky

 4.5 4.5 0.0

New Mexico

 4.6 6.0 -1.4

Ohio

 4.6 4.9 -0.3

Mississippi

 4.7 4.8 -0.1

Arizona

 4.7 4.7 0.0

Louisiana

 5.0 4.7 0.3

West Virginia

 5.2 5.4 -0.2

District of Columbia

 5.6 5.9 -0.3

Alaska

 6.3 7.2 -0.9
Footnotes:

(p) Preliminary

Note: Rates shown are a percentage of the labor force. Data refer to place of residence. Estimates for the current month are subject to revision the following month. 

Hawaii and Iowa had the lowest unemployment rates in November, 2.4 percent each. The rates in Idaho (2.6 percent), Missouri (3.0 percent), and New York (3.9 percent) set new series lows. Alaska had the highest jobless rate at 6.3 percent. In total, 13 states had unemployment rates that were lower than the U.S. figure of 3.7 percent, 12 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see “State Employment and Unemployment — November 2018.” We also have more charts and maps on state unemployment.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rates declined in 18 states over the year ending November 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/unemployment-rates-declined-in-18-states-over-the-year-ending-november-2018.htm (visited November 10, 2024).

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