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Employment–population ratio less than 50.0 percent for 10 states in May 2020
July 15, 2020
In May 2020, the proportion of the statewide civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over with a job was less than 50.0 percent in 10 states. Nevada had the lowest employment–population ratio in May 2020, at 41.9 percent. This compared with 61.1 percent in May 2019.
Employment-population ratios in May, by state, 2000 to 2020
State
May 2000
May 2001
May 2002
May 2003
May 2004
May 2005
May 2006
May 2007
May 2008
May 2009
May 2010
May 2011
May 2012
May 2013
May 2014
Alabama
60.4%
59.4%
58.1%
58.3%
58.5%
59.0%
59.1%
58.8%
57.7%
53.4%
53.7%
53.4%
53.4%
53.8%
53.2%
Alaska
68.9
68.0
66.9
66.6
66.0
66.9
66.8
66.2
66.5
64.9
64.4
64.0
63.5
63.2
63.1
Arizona
62.7
62.4
62.0
61.8
61.7
61.6
61.8
61.4
60.2
57.3
57.4
55.8
55.5
55.0
55.7
Arkansas
59.7
58.5
58.6
57.7
58.5
60.3
60.5
59.9
59.8
57.0
55.6
55.3
55.1
54.0
54.0
California
63.8
63.7
62.4
61.5
61.4
62.0
62.1
62.2
61.4
58.2
56.4
56.0
56.5
57.3
57.6
Colorado
70.5
68.9
67.8
67.7
68.6
68.6
69.2
69.4
68.9
66.2
64.6
63.8
63.5
63.5
64.3
Connecticut
66.5
65.4
64.6
63.8
63.2
63.8
64.8
65.5
65.3
63.5
61.9
61.7
60.9
60.0
61.3
Delaware
66.6
67.6
65.5
63.8
64.0
64.1
64.7
64.1
63.2
59.0
56.4
57.6
57.7
56.6
57.6
District of Columbia
63.8
63.1
62.3
62.1
61.7
63.4
63.2
64.1
65.1
62.5
62.5
60.9
62.6
63.7
63.6
Florida
60.6
60.7
58.9
58.7
59.3
60.4
61.4
61.5
60.1
56.1
54.7
54.9
55.5
56.0
56.3
Georgia
67.0
65.9
64.7
64.7
64.4
64.3
64.8
65.0
64.8
59.3
57.5
57.6
58.1
57.9
57.5
Hawaii
64.5
64.7
62.9
62.8
62.6
63.9
64.5
64.3
63.4
59.7
57.6
58.6
57.0
57.5
58.9
Idaho
66.2
66.5
65.5
64.7
64.8
66.5
66.5
66.1
63.6
60.1
59.5
59.4
59.8
59.8
60.5
Illinois
66.7
65.3
62.9
61.8
62.0
62.7
64.1
64.9
64.1
60.5
60.1
59.7
59.9
59.4
60.1
Indiana
66.0
65.1
64.5
64.4
63.7
63.7
64.1
63.3
62.8
58.7
57.4
57.7
57.7
58.0
59.4
Iowa
69.3
69.5
70.3
68.1
67.5
68.5
69.7
69.2
69.5
67.8
66.9
66.2
65.7
66.2
67.3
Kansas
68.1
66.2
66.1
66.5
67.4
67.4
67.4
67.8
67.9
66.7
65.0
64.5
64.3
64.5
65.0
Kentucky
61.2
60.0
58.7
58.3
58.4
58.7
58.9
58.9
57.7
55.6
55.1
55.2
55.7
55.7
54.8
Louisiana
58.8
58.3
56.8
56.7
57.1
58.2
59.3
58.9
59.2
56.9
56.1
54.9
55.1
55.5
56.6
Maine
66.3
64.7
63.6
63.3
63.2
63.5
63.7
63.2
62.9
60.1
59.4
59.6
60.0
60.7
60.5
Maryland
67.7
67.4
66.9
66.4
65.7
65.9
66.3
66.3
66.2
64.3
63.1
63.1
63.0
63.1
62.9
Massachusetts
65.8
65.6
65.0
64.2
63.9
63.7
63.7
63.7
63.1
61.1
61.0
60.7
60.8
60.6
61.4
Michigan
66.4
64.6
61.8
60.8
61.1
61.3
60.9
60.1
58.7
54.7
54.5
53.9
54.4
55.1
56.1
Minnesota
73.1
72.6
71.5
71.0
70.6
70.4
69.9
69.2
68.5
66.6
66.2
66.3
66.4
66.7
66.9
Mississippi
59.8
58.5
56.8
57.2
57.8
57.5
56.1
56.1
56.3
52.6
50.8
53.8
53.4
51.6
50.8
Missouri
67.4
67.4
65.9
65.8
64.8
64.3
64.2
63.7
62.4
60.3
59.9
59.9
60.2
60.1
60.5
Montana
64.8
64.4
63.8
63.4
63.8
63.7
64.6
64.6
63.9
60.9
59.7
59.3
60.2
60.5
60.6
Nebraska
71.6
71.5
70.8
70.9
70.9
70.8
70.5
70.7
70.9
69.5
68.2
68.4
69.1
69.1
68.4
Nevada
67.2
67.1
65.3
64.4
64.1
64.5
65.4
65.6
65.0
60.1
56.6
57.0
57.5
57.9
58.3
New Hampshire
70.6
70.1
68.5
68.1
68.4
68.7
68.5
68.3
68.1
66.1
66.1
65.7
65.5
65.5
65.6
New Jersey
64.3
63.3
62.7
62.2
62.7
63.3
63.5
63.5
63.7
61.4
60.1
59.7
59.8
59.9
59.7
New Mexico
59.8
60.4
60.2
60.2
60.3
60.6
60.9
60.7
60.4
57.5
55.1
54.4
54.0
53.7
54.1
New York
60.0
59.7
59.1
58.6
58.9
59.9
60.1
59.8
60.0
57.9
57.4
56.3
56.3
57.1
56.8
North Carolina
65.4
64.3
62.3
62.8
62.3
62.3
62.9
62.6
61.4
57.6
56.4
56.0
56.4
56.8
57.2
North Dakota
68.5
68.8
67.7
68.0
69.5
69.7
70.6
71.7
72.3
70.1
69.4
70.3
70.9
70.8
70.7
Ohio
64.5
64.4
63.4
63.0
62.6
62.8
63.4
63.6
62.9
59.4
58.6
58.4
58.6
58.4
58.9
Oklahoma
62.4
62.4
61.8
60.7
60.9
61.2
61.2
60.9
61.3
59.8
58.1
58.1
59.1
58.5
58.1
Oregon
65.6
64.0
62.4
61.6
61.3
61.4
62.0
62.3
62.0
58.3
58.4
59.0
57.8
56.3
56.9
Pennsylvania
61.7
61.9
61.5
60.6
60.8
61.3
61.4
61.7
62.0
59.5
58.1
58.1
58.6
58.7
58.9
Rhode Island
64.3
63.4
63.1
63.7
63.2
64.1
64.9
65.1
63.1
60.0
59.9
59.2
58.9
59.4
60.1
South Carolina
63.6
60.5
59.2
59.4
59.6
59.6
59.6
59.6
58.4
54.9
53.6
53.9
54.2
54.6
55.2
South Dakota
71.2
70.7
70.8
70.8
70.7
70.3
70.5
71.2
71.0
68.9
68.0
67.4
67.1
66.7
67.0
Tennessee
62.8
62.2
62.0
61.4
60.2
59.3
61.1
61.7
59.5
56.3
56.7
57.1
56.9
56.1
55.2
Texas
65.4
64.8
63.8
63.5
63.4
63.3
63.4
62.9
62.8
61.0
60.5
60.7
61.0
61.2
61.6
Utah
69.9
68.9
67.5
67.0
67.5
68.6
69.6
70.2
68.8
64.5
64.0
63.1
64.1
65.0
65.4
Vermont
68.0
68.1
68.3
67.8
68.2
68.2
69.0
67.8
67.0
66.3
66.6
66.4
66.0
65.4
65.0
Virginia
66.4
66.3
65.5
65.3
64.9
65.8
66.5
66.7
67.3
64.3
62.7
63.0
62.7
62.7
62.5
Washington
65.3
63.1
62.0
61.9
63.2
64.0
64.2
64.7
64.8
62.4
60.5
59.1
59.3
59.2
59.2
West Virginia
53.5
54.0
52.8
51.6
51.8
52.2
53.2
53.6
53.8
51.8
50.1
49.8
50.3
50.2
49.8
Wisconsin
70.3
69.9
68.6
68.5
68.0
67.2
67.4
67.4
67.3
64.4
63.5
63.7
63.7
63.8
64.2
Wyoming
68.8
69.2
68.1
68.4
68.5
68.4
68.8
69.0
69.2
67.4
65.3
66.2
65.7
65.2
65.4
Employment-population ratios in May, by state, 2000 to 2020 (continued)
State
May 2015
May 2016
May 2017
May 2018
May 2019
May 2020
Alabama
53.5%
53.8%
54.5%
55.3%
56.2%
52.2%
Alaska
62.8
61.8
61.3
60.5
60.0
53.5
Arizona
56.4
56.8
57.6
58.1
58.9
55.5
Arkansas
54.9
55.7
55.9
55.8
56.0
51.7
California
58.3
58.8
59.2
59.6
59.7
49.6
Colorado
64.2
64.6
66.0
66.8
67.1
59.7
Connecticut
62.2
62.3
63.0
63.0
63.6
55.6
Delaware
59.3
59.9
59.7
60.2
60.3
50.6
District of Columbia
65.0
65.8
66.0
66.6
67.0
60.9
Florida
55.8
56.1
57.1
57.1
57.2
47.1
Georgia
57.7
58.9
60.2
60.4
60.0
53.4
Hawaii
59.7
60.5
61.1
60.5
59.0
45.0
Idaho
61.2
61.6
61.8
62.3
62.6
57.6
Illinois
60.8
61.4
61.3
61.7
61.8
53.4
Indiana
60.6
61.9
62.1
62.7
62.3
55.5
Iowa
67.3
66.9
66.1
66.8
68.3
61.4
Kansas
64.8
64.4
64.2
64.3
64.5
60.6
Kentucky
54.5
55.1
56.2
56.6
56.6
51.6
Louisiana
56.9
55.8
55.6
55.9
55.7
49.6
Maine
59.9
60.7
61.4
61.1
60.4
54.1
Maryland
63.5
64.1
64.9
65.1
65.9
58.8
Massachusetts
62.2
62.7
63.5
65.1
65.5
52.2
Michigan
56.9
58.2
58.6
59.0
59.1
46.8
Minnesota
67.5
67.6
67.8
67.9
67.9
62.1
Mississippi
51.9
52.6
53.0
52.9
52.7
47.2
Missouri
61.7
62.0
61.8
61.7
61.8
56.1
Montana
60.9
60.9
60.7
60.5
60.5
55.4
Nebraska
67.8
67.5
67.2
67.5
67.7
67.1
Nevada
58.8
58.9
59.6
60.4
61.1
41.9
New Hampshire
66.2
66.6
66.4
66.8
67.2
55.0
New Jersey
60.2
60.5
60.4
60.1
61.0
54.2
New Mexico
54.3
54.1
54.2
54.7
55.2
49.9
New York
57.6
57.8
58.0
58.1
58.2
49.8
North Carolina
57.7
58.3
58.8
58.9
59.1
50.4
North Dakota
69.4
68.9
69.1
67.8
67.7
62.5
Ohio
59.4
59.7
59.8
59.9
60.1
53.5
Oklahoma
59.1
58.3
58.5
59.2
58.8
52.3
Oregon
57.9
59.4
60.3
59.8
59.4
52.9
Pennsylvania
59.4
59.7
59.8
59.9
60.2
54.6
Rhode Island
61.0
61.1
61.6
61.8
61.9
50.5
South Carolina
55.9
56.2
56.1
56.4
56.7
51.5
South Dakota
67.3
67.2
66.8
66.8
66.7
62.1
Tennessee
56.0
57.0
58.1
58.8
59.9
53.9
Texas
61.0
60.9
61.0
61.5
61.6
52.8
Utah
65.8
66.2
66.7
66.3
66.5
61.5
Vermont
64.7
64.8
64.9
65.2
64.7
57.7
Virginia
62.1
62.1
63.0
63.4
64.0
58.4
Washington
59.7
60.2
60.8
61.2
62.0
55.0
West Virginia
49.2
49.8
50.4
51.0
52.2
47.2
Wisconsin
64.8
65.7
66.1
65.8
64.8
58.6
Wyoming
64.7
63.2
62.8
62.5
62.7
59.5
In May 2020, other states with employment-population ratios of less than 50.0 percent included Hawaii, Michigan, Florida, Mississippi, West Virginia, California, Louisiana, New York, and New Mexico. Nebraska had the highest employment–population ratio in May 2020, at 67.1 percent, down from 67.7 percent in May 2019. Other states with high employment–population ratios were North Dakota (62.5 percent), and South Dakota and Minnesota (62.1 percent each).
In addition to Nevada, 7 other states experienced a decrease in their employment–population ratio of at least 10.0-percentage points from May 2019 to May 2020. These included Hawaii (−14.0 percentage points), Massachusetts (−13.3 percentage points), Michigan (−12.3 percentage points), New Hampshire (−12.2 percentage points), Rhode Island (−11.4 percentage points), and Florida and California (−10.1 percentage points each).
United States Department of Labor
