Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 01-50 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, February 23, 2001 STATE AND REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT, 2000 ANNUAL AVERAGES Unemployment rates decreased in 33 states and the District of Columbia from 1999 to 2000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Three of the four regions and seven of the nine geographic divisions recorded rate declines in annual average unemployment. The U.S. jobless rate decreased from 4.2 percent to 4.0 percent over the year. Additionally, employment to population ratios increased in a majority of states, with the national ratio increasing to a record high of 64.5 percent. State Unemployment As the national unemployment rate reached its lowest point in 31 years, 14 states had the lowest annual average rates in their series. (All state series date back to at least 1976.) The 14 included 4 states in the Mountain division, 3 each in New England and the South Atlantic, and 2 in the East North Central. Compared with 1999, annual average jobless rates in 2000 were lower in 33 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 16 states, and unchanged in 1 state. (See table 1 and chart 1.) The states posting the largest rate declines were Hawaii (-1.3 percentage points), West Virginia (-1.1 points), and Wyoming (-1.0 point). Twelve additional states plus the District of Columbia recorded decreases of at least 0.5 percentage point. Eight large states--California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia--registered annual declines for at least each of the last seven years. The largest rate increases occurred in Kansas (0.7 percentage point) and Mississippi (0.6 point). Four other states had increases of 0.5 percentage point each. Virginia reported the lowest annual average unemployment rate for 2000, 2.2 percent, followed closely by Connecticut and South Dakota, both 2.3 percent. Five other states--three of them in New England--had rates below 3.0 percent in 2000. Alaska recorded the highest jobless rate, 6.6 percent, followed by Mississippi, 5.7 percent. The District of Columbia's rate was 5.8 percent. Overall, 28 states had unemployment rates below the national average, while 21 states and the District of Columbia posted higher rates. (See chart 2.) All seven states in the West North Central division and five of the six states in New England had rates below the U.S. average, while all five states in the Pacific division recorded rates above it. Regional Unemployment The Northeast region had the largest rate decline from 1999 (-0.5 percentage point), while the South and West posted smaller decreases. These three regions all had the lowest annual average rates in their series. (Regional series date back to 1976.) For the 10th year in a row, the Midwest had the lowest regional jobless rate (3.7 percent), although it edged up over last year's rate. The West registered the highest unemployment rate (4.6 percent) for the eighth consecutive year, although four states in the region reported rates below 4.0 percent. The range between the high and low regional unemployment rates narrowed to less than a full percentage point for the first time since 1991. - 2 - Among the nation's nine geographic divisions, the two divisions in the Northeast region--the Middle Atlantic and New England--reported the largest rate declines from the previous year, -0.5 percentage point each. The Mountain division in the West region posted the next largest decrease, -0.4 point. The two Midwest divisions--the East North Central and West North Central--recorded small rate increases. Unemployment rates in the seven divisions that recorded over-the-year declines reached new annual lows. In 2000, New England replaced the West North Central as the division with the lowest unemployment rate (2.8 percent) after the latter division had recorded the lowest rate for 10 years. For the ninth consecutive year, the Pacific division had the highest jobless rate (5.0 percent), but its annual rate continued to decline in 2000 for the seventh year in a row. Employment-population Ratios Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia experienced rises in their employment-population ratios--the proportion of the civilian non- institutional population age 16 and over with a job--in 2000, while 19 states had declines. The national employment-population ratio edged up 0.2 percentage point from 1999 to a record high 64.5 percent annual average in 2000. The greatest over-the-year gains were reported in Delaware (2.1 percentage points) and Mississippi (2.0 percentage points), with an additional nine states recording increases of at least a full percentage point. The largest decrease occurred in Kansas (-2.1 percentage points), with four other states showing declines of more than 1.0 percentage point. Minnesota once again registered the highest annual average employment- population ratio, 72.6 percent, despite a 0.4-percentage point drop from 1999. West Virginia continued to have the lowest ratio among the states, 53.9 percent, even after a 1.2-percentage point increase over 1999. Overall, 31 states had employment-population ratios above the U.S. average, while 19 states and the District of Columbia had lower ratios. (See table 2 and chart 3.) All four regions experienced small gains in their annual average employment-population ratios over 1999, ranging from 0.4 percentage point in the West to 0.1 point in the Midwest. Regional ratios were above the national average in the Midwest (67.4 percent) and West (64.7 percent) and below average in the South (63.4 percent) and Northeast (62.8 percent). Among geographic divisions, the South Atlantic and Pacific saw the largest ratio increases, 0.5 percentage point each, relative to 1999. The West South Central and Mountain were the only two divisions to record declines in their ratios over the year (-0.4 and -0.1 percentage point, respectively). Ratios among the seven states of the West North Central division were above that of the U.S., while ratios among all three states of the Middle Atlantic and all four states of the East South Central were below that of the U.S. All estimates presented in this release, except those for Puerto Rico, were derived from the Current Population Survey, a sample survey of about 50,000 households 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, 1998, Bulletin 2524. The length of the annual series varies by state and ranges from 25 to 31 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, 1999-2000 annual averages (Numbers in thousands) Population Civilian labor Employed Unemployed Unemployment force rate Error range Region, division, of rate, and state 2000(1) 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 United States(2).... 207,753 209,699 139,368 140,863 133,488 135,208 5,880 5,655 4.2 4.0 3.9 - 4.1 Northeast..................... 40,105 40,247 26,234 26,295 25,083 25,281 1,151 1,014 4.4 3.9 3.8 - 4.0 New England................ 10,439 10,502 7,171 7,194 6,935 6,995 236 199 3.3 2.8 2.6 - 3.0 Connecticut............. 2,530 2,537 1,708 1,746 1,654 1,707 54 39 3.2 2.3 1.8 - 2.8 Maine................... 987 998 670 689 642 665 27 24 4.1 3.5 3.0 - 4.0 Massachusetts........... 4,781 4,804 3,284 3,237 3,179 3,151 105 86 3.2 2.6 2.3 - 2.9 New Hampshire........... 924 939 668 686 650 666 18 19 2.7 2.8 2.3 - 3.3 Rhode Island............ 751 753 504 505 484 484 21 21 4.1 4.1 3.5 - 4.7 Vermont................. 466 471 336 332 326 322 10 10 3.0 2.9 2.4 - 3.4 Middle Atlantic............ 29,666 29,745 19,063 19,101 18,148 18,286 915 815 4.8 4.3 4.1 - 4.5 New Jersey.............. 6,264 6,292 4,205 4,188 4,012 4,030 193 157 4.6 3.8 3.5 - 4.1 New York................ 14,120 14,163 8,882 8,941 8,423 8,533 459 408 5.2 4.6 4.3 - 4.9 Pennsylvania............ 9,282 9,290 5,976 5,972 5,713 5,722 263 250 4.4 4.2 3.9 - 4.5 Midwest....................... 47,946 48,222 33,442 33,729 32,244 32,493 1,198 1,236 3.6 3.7 3.6 - 3.8 East North Central......... 33,764 33,931 23,242 23,422 22,348 22,517 894 905 3.8 3.9 3.7 - 4.1 Illinois................ 9,155 9,199 6,378 6,419 6,105 6,140 273 279 4.3 4.4 4.1 - 4.7 Indiana................. 4,504 4,529 3,076 3,084 2,983 2,984 93 100 3.0 3.2 2.7 - 3.7 Michigan................ 7,505 7,548 5,144 5,201 4,950 5,016 194 185 3.8 3.6 3.3 - 3.9 Ohio.................... 8,605 8,624 5,754 5,783 5,508 5,546 246 237 4.3 4.1 3.8 - 4.4 Wisconsin............... 3,995 4,031 2,890 2,935 2,802 2,831 88 104 3.0 3.5 3.0 - 4.0 West North Central......... 14,182 14,291 10,200 10,307 9,896 9,976 303 331 3.0 3.2 3.0 - 3.4 Iowa.................... 2,187 2,193 1,573 1,563 1,533 1,522 40 41 2.5 2.6 2.2 - 3.0 Kansas.................. 1,988 2,001 1,434 1,411 1,392 1,359 43 52 3.0 3.7 3.2 - 4.2 Minnesota............... 3,600 3,648 2,703 2,739 2,627 2,649 76 90 2.8 3.3 2.8 - 3.8 Missouri................ 4,135 4,166 2,841 2,930 2,745 2,828 96 101 3.4 3.5 3.0 - 4.0 Nebraska................ 1,248 1,254 912 924 886 897 26 28 2.9 3.0 2.5 - 3.5 North Dakota............ 478 477 337 339 325 329 11 10 3.4 3.0 2.5 - 3.5 South Dakota............ 546 552 400 401 388 392 12 9 2.9 2.3 1.9 - 2.7 South......................... 73,427 74,337 48,406 49,035 46,412 47,104 1,994 1,931 4.1 3.9 3.8 - 4.0 South Atlantic............. 38,033 38,528 25,060 25,534 24,123 24,624 937 910 3.7 3.6 3.4 - 3.8 Delaware................ 581 588 390 409 376 393 14 16 3.5 4.0 3.4 - 4.6 District of Columbia............... 415 413 281 279 263 263 18 16 6.3 5.8 5.1 - 6.5 Florida................. 11,783 11,960 7,361 7,490 7,077 7,221 284 269 3.9 3.6 3.3 - 3.9 Georgia................. 5,859 5,967 4,078 4,173 3,916 4,019 162 154 4.0 3.7 3.3 - 4.1 Maryland................ 3,975 4,015 2,775 2,805 2,676 2,697 98 108 3.5 3.9 3.4 - 4.4 North Carolina.......... 5,755 5,809 3,868 3,958 3,746 3,814 122 144 3.2 3.6 3.2 - 4.0 South Carolina.......... 2,992 3,032 1,963 1,985 1,875 1,909 88 77 4.5 3.9 3.4 - 4.4 Virginia................ 5,226 5,299 3,528 3,610 3,430 3,530 98 80 2.8 2.2 1.8 - 2.6 West Virginia........... 1,447 1,445 816 825 763 779 54 46 6.6 5.5 4.9 - 6.1 East South Central......... 12,763 12,853 8,190 8,261 7,823 7,895 368 366 4.5 4.4 4.1 - 4.7 Alabama................. 3,384 3,401 2,141 2,154 2,039 2,055 102 99 4.8 4.6 4.0 - 5.2 Kentucky................ 3,057 3,082 1,967 1,982 1,879 1,900 88 82 4.5 4.1 3.6 - 4.6 Mississippi............. 2,073 2,086 1,268 1,326 1,203 1,251 65 75 5.1 5.7 5.1 - 6.3 Tennessee............... 4,249 4,284 2,816 2,798 2,702 2,688 113 110 4.0 3.9 3.4 - 4.4 West South Central......... 22,631 22,956 15,155 15,240 14,466 14,585 688 655 4.5 4.3 4.1 - 4.5 Arkansas................ 1,957 1,977 1,229 1,238 1,174 1,183 55 55 4.5 4.4 3.8 - 5.0 Louisiana............... 3,278 3,289 2,052 2,030 1,948 1,917 104 112 5.1 5.5 4.9 - 6.1 Oklahoma................ 2,540 2,558 1,655 1,648 1,598 1,598 57 50 3.4 3.0 2.6 - 3.4 Texas................... 14,856 15,132 10,219 10,325 9,747 9,887 472 437 4.6 4.2 3.9 - 4.5 West.......................... 46,129 46,891 31,191 31,806 29,658 30,333 1,533 1,473 4.9 4.6 4.4 - 4.8 Mountain................... 12,802 13,033 8,847 8,949 8,478 8,614 369 336 4.2 3.8 3.6 - 4.0 Arizona................. 3,563 3,626 2,359 2,347 2,255 2,256 104 91 4.4 3.9 3.4 - 4.4 Colorado................ 3,080 3,141 2,264 2,276 2,198 2,213 66 63 2.9 2.7 2.3 - 3.1 Idaho................... 934 951 651 658 617 626 34 32 5.2 4.9 4.3 - 5.5 Montana................. 685 691 474 479 449 456 25 24 5.2 4.9 4.3 - 5.5 Nevada.................. 1,363 1,408 942 986 900 946 42 40 4.4 4.1 3.6 - 4.6 New Mexico.............. 1,306 1,318 809 833 764 792 45 40 5.6 4.9 4.3 - 5.5 Utah.................... 1,503 1,527 1,086 1,104 1,046 1,068 41 36 3.7 3.2 2.8 - 3.6 Wyoming................. 368 371 262 267 249 257 13 10 4.9 3.9 3.4 - 4.4 Pacific.................... 33,327 33,858 22,344 22,856 21,180 21,719 1,164 1,137 5.2 5.0 4.8 - 5.2 Alaska.................. 434 438 319 322 299 301 20 21 6.4 6.6 5.9 - 7.3 California.............. 25,044 25,489 16,596 17,091 15,732 16,246 865 845 5.2 4.9 4.7 - 5.1 Hawaii.................. 885 889 593 595 560 570 33 26 5.6 4.3 3.7 - 4.9 Oregon.................. 2,583 2,608 1,761 1,803 1,661 1,715 100 87 5.7 4.9 4.3 - 5.5 Washington.............. 4,381 4,434 3,075 3,045 2,929 2,888 145 158 4.7 5.2 4.6 - 5.8 Puerto Rico(3)................ 2,803 2,834 1,302 1,306 1,149 1,174 153 132 11.7 10.1 (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. Sub-national data incorporate updated 1990 census-based population controls. Historical data have been revised. Table 2. Employment-population ratio of persons 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state, 1999-2000 annual averages (Percent) Employment-population ratio(1) Over-the-year Region, division, and state change 1999 2000 United States ....... 64.3 64.5 0.2 Northeast ................ 62.5 62.8 .3 New England ............. 66.4 66.6 .2 Connecticut ............ 65.4 67.3 1.9 Maine .................. 65.1 66.6 1.5 Massachusetts .......... 66.5 65.6 -.9 New Hampshire .......... 70.3 71.0 .7 Rhode Island ........... 64.4 64.3 -.1 Vermont ................ 69.9 68.3 -1.6 Middle Atlantic ......... 61.2 61.5 .3 New Jersey ............. 64.1 64.1 .0 New York ............... 59.7 60.3 .6 Pennsylvania ........... 61.6 61.6 .0 Midwest .................. 67.3 67.4 .1 East North Central ...... 66.2 66.4 .2 Illinois ............... 66.7 66.7 .0 Indiana ................ 66.2 65.9 -.3 Michigan ............... 66.0 66.5 .5 Ohio ................... 64.0 64.3 .3 Wisconsin .............. 70.1 70.2 .1 West North Central ...... 69.8 69.8 .0 Iowa ................... 70.1 69.4 -.7 Kansas ................. 70.0 67.9 -2.1 Minnesota .............. 73.0 72.6 -.4 Missouri ............... 66.4 67.9 1.5 Nebraska ............... 71.0 71.5 .5 North Dakota ........... 68.1 68.9 .8 South Dakota ........... 71.1 71.0 -.1 South .................... 63.2 63.4 .2 South Atlantic .......... 63.4 63.9 .5 Delaware ............... 64.7 66.8 2.1 District Of Columbia ... 63.4 63.6 .2 Florida ................ 60.1 60.4 .3 Georgia ................ 66.8 67.4 .6 Maryland ............... 67.3 67.2 -.1 North Carolina ......... 65.1 65.7 .6 South Carolina ......... 62.7 63.0 .3 Virginia ............... 65.6 66.6 1.0 West Virginia .......... 52.7 53.9 1.2 East South Central ...... 61.3 61.4 .1 Alabama ................ 60.3 60.4 .1 Kentucky ............... 61.5 61.7 .2 Mississippi ............ 58.0 60.0 2.0 Tennessee .............. 63.6 62.7 -.9 West South Central ...... 63.9 63.5 -.4 Arkansas ............... 60.0 59.8 -.2 Louisiana .............. 59.4 58.3 -1.1 Oklahoma ............... 62.9 62.5 -.4 Texas .................. 65.6 65.3 -.3 West ..................... 64.3 64.7 .4 Mountain ................ 66.2 66.1 -.1 Arizona ................ 63.3 62.2 -1.1 Colorado ............... 71.4 70.5 -.9 Idaho .................. 66.1 65.8 -.3 Montana ................ 65.6 65.9 .3 Nevada ................. 66.0 67.2 1.2 New Mexico ............. 58.5 60.1 1.6 Utah ................... 69.6 70.0 .4 Wyoming ................ 67.8 69.2 1.4 Pacific ................. 63.6 64.1 .5 Alaska ................. 68.8 68.6 -.2 California ............. 62.8 63.7 .9 Hawaii ................. 63.2 64.1 .9 Oregon ................. 64.3 65.8 1.5 Washington ............. 66.9 65.1 -1.8 Puerto Rico(2) ............. 41.0 41.4 .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.