For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, September 15, 2017 USDL-17-1251
Technical information:
Employment: (202) 691-6559 * sminfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/sae
Unemployment: (202) 691-6392 * lausinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/lau
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- AUGUST 2017
Unemployment rates were higher in August in 8 states, lower in 1 state, and
stable in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Twenty-one states had jobless rate decreases from
a year earlier, 1 state had an increase, and 28 states and the District had
little or no change. The national unemployment rate, 4.4 percent, was little
changed from July but was 0.5 percentage point lower than in August 2016.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 6 states in August 2017, decreased
in 3 states, and was essentially unchanged in 41 states and the District
of Columbia. Over the year, 29 states and the District added nonfarm payroll
jobs and 21 states were essentially unchanged.
_____________________________________________________________________
| |
| Hurricane Harvey |
| |
| Hurricane Harvey had no discernible effect on the employment and |
| unemployment data for August. Household survey data collection |
| was completed before the storm. Establishment survey data |
| collection for this news release was largely completed prior to |
| the storm, and collection rates were within normal ranges |
| nationally and for the affected areas. For information on how |
| unusually severe weather can affect the employment and unemployment|
| estimates, see question 8 in the Frequently Asked Questions section|
| of the Employment Situation news release at |
| www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.faq.htm. |
|_____________________________________________________________________|
Unemployment
North Dakota and Colorado had the lowest unemployment rates in August,
2.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. The rate in Tennessee (3.3 percent)
set a new series low. (All state series begin in 1976.) Alaska had the highest
jobless rate, 7.2 percent. In total, 19 states had unemployment rates lower
than the U.S. figure of 4.4 percent, 6 states and the District of Columbia had
higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different from
that of the nation. (See tables A and 1.)
In August, eight states had unemployment rate increases, the largest of which
was in Indiana (+0.4 percentage point), closely followed by California, New
Jersey, Oregon, and West Virginia (+0.3 point each). Idaho had the only
notable rate decrease (-0.1 percentage point). The remaining 41 states and
the District of Columbia had jobless rates that were not notably different
from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as
large numerically as the significant changes. (See table B.)
Twenty-one states had unemployment rate decreases from August 2016. The
largest declines occurred in Alabama and Tennessee (-1.7 percentage points
and -1.5 points, respectively). The only over-the-year rate increase occurred
in South Dakota (+0.4 percentage point). (See table C.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Six states had over-the-month increases in nonfarm payroll employment in
August 2017. The largest increase in employment over the month occurred in
Georgia (+19,800), followed by Maryland (+14,200) and Massachusetts (+10,800).
In percentage terms, the largest increases occurred in New Mexico (+0.7 percent),
New Hampshire (+0.6 percent), and Maryland (+0.5 percent). The decreases in
employment over the month occurred in Oregon (-9,500, or -0.5 percent),
Arkansas (-7,200, or -0.6 percent), and Maine (-3,700, or -0.6 percent).
(See tables D and 3.)
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia had over-the-year increases
in nonfarm payroll employment in August. The largest job gains occurred in
Texas (+298,600), California (+265,100), and Florida (+221,400). The largest
percentage gain occurred in Nevada (+3.0 percent), followed by Georgia
(+2.7 percent) and Florida and Utah (+2.6 percent each). (See table E.)
_____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for
August is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 27, 2017,
at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The State Employment and Unemployment news
release for September is scheduled to be released on Friday, October
20, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., August 2017, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 4.4
|
Alaska ..............................| 7.2
Arkansas ............................| 3.5
California ..........................| 5.1
Colorado ............................| 2.4
District of Columbia ................| 6.4
Hawaii ..............................| 2.6
Idaho ...............................| 2.9
Indiana .............................| 3.5
Iowa ................................| 3.3
Kansas ..............................| 3.9
|
Kentucky ............................| 5.4
Maine ...............................| 3.8
Minnesota ...........................| 3.8
Mississippi .........................| 5.3
Montana .............................| 3.9
Nebraska ............................| 2.8
New Hampshire .......................| 2.7
New Mexico ..........................| 6.3
North Dakota ........................| 2.3
Ohio ................................| 5.4
|
South Dakota ........................| 3.3
Tennessee ...........................| 3.3
Utah ................................| 3.5
Vermont .............................| 3.0
Virginia ............................| 3.8
Wisconsin ...........................| 3.4
--------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Data are not preliminary.
(p) = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from July 2017 to August 2017, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-month
State | July | August | change(p)
| 2017 | 2017(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
California .....................| 4.8 | 5.1 | 0.3
Idaho ..........................| 3.0 | 2.9 | -.1
Illinois .......................| 4.8 | 5.0 | .2
Indiana ........................| 3.1 | 3.5 | .4
New Jersey .....................| 4.2 | 4.5 | .3
Oregon .........................| 3.8 | 4.1 | .3
South Dakota ...................| 3.1 | 3.3 | .2
West Virginia ..................| 4.7 | 5.0 | .3
Wisconsin ......................| 3.2 | 3.4 | .2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from August 2016 to August 2017, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | August | August | change(p)
| 2016 | 2017(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................| 5.9 | 4.2 | -1.7
California .....................| 5.4 | 5.1 | -.3
Colorado .......................| 3.3 | 2.4 | -.9
Florida ........................| 4.9 | 4.0 | -.9
Georgia ........................| 5.3 | 4.7 | -.6
Idaho ..........................| 3.8 | 2.9 | -.9
Illinois .......................| 5.8 | 5.0 | -.8
Indiana ........................| 4.4 | 3.5 | -.9
Louisiana ......................| 6.1 | 5.2 | -.9
Michigan .......................| 4.9 | 3.9 | -1.0
| | |
Nebraska .......................| 3.2 | 2.8 | -.4
North Carolina .................| 5.0 | 4.1 | -.9
North Dakota ...................| 3.1 | 2.3 | -.8
Oregon .........................| 5.0 | 4.1 | -.9
Rhode Island ...................| 5.3 | 4.3 | -1.0
South Dakota ...................| 2.9 | 3.3 | .4
Tennessee ......................| 4.8 | 3.3 | -1.5
Texas ..........................| 4.7 | 4.2 | -.5
Washington .....................| 5.4 | 4.6 | -.8
West Virginia ..................| 6.0 | 5.0 | -1.0
Wisconsin ......................| 4.2 | 3.4 | -.8
Wyoming ........................| 5.2 | 4.0 | -1.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
July 2017 to August 2017, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-month change(p)
State | July | August |---------------------------
| 2017 | 2017(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arkansas .....................| 1,259,100 | 1,251,900 | -7,200 | -0.6
Georgia ......................| 4,490,400 | 4,510,200 | 19,800 | .4
Kentucky .....................| 1,939,000 | 1,947,300 | 8,300 | .4
Maine ........................| 624,500 | 620,800 | -3,700 | -.6
Maryland .....................| 2,764,100 | 2,778,300 | 14,200 | .5
Massachusetts ................| 3,620,400 | 3,631,200 | 10,800 | .3
New Hampshire ................| 680,400 | 684,600 | 4,200 | .6
New Mexico ...................| 833,500 | 839,200 | 5,700 | .7
Oregon .......................| 1,887,600 | 1,878,100 | -9,500 | -.5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from
August 2016 to August 2017, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-year change(p)
State | August | August |---------------------------
| 2016 | 2017(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 1,977,900 | 2,004,800 | 26,900 | 1.4
Arizona ......................| 2,716,400 | 2,751,100 | 34,700 | 1.3
Arkansas .....................| 1,228,500 | 1,251,900 | 23,400 | 1.9
California ...................| 16,512,700 | 16,777,800 | 265,100 | 1.6
Colorado .....................| 2,609,500 | 2,655,300 | 45,800 | 1.8
District of Columbia .........| 781,300 | 794,400 | 13,100 | 1.7
Florida ......................| 8,428,500 | 8,649,900 | 221,400 | 2.6
Georgia ......................| 4,393,700 | 4,510,200 | 116,500 | 2.7
Idaho ........................| 698,900 | 714,100 | 15,200 | 2.2
Kentucky .....................| 1,916,800 | 1,947,300 | 30,500 | 1.6
| | | |
Maryland .....................| 2,714,700 | 2,778,300 | 63,600 | 2.3
Massachusetts ................| 3,573,800 | 3,631,200 | 57,400 | 1.6
Michigan .....................| 4,332,300 | 4,392,600 | 60,300 | 1.4
Minnesota ....................| 2,904,100 | 2,948,100 | 44,000 | 1.5
Missouri .....................| 2,848,300 | 2,900,600 | 52,300 | 1.8
Nevada .......................| 1,309,100 | 1,347,900 | 38,800 | 3.0
New Hampshire ................| 670,300 | 684,600 | 14,300 | 2.1
New Jersey ...................| 4,091,300 | 4,129,400 | 38,100 | .9
New York .....................| 9,421,400 | 9,550,000 | 128,600 | 1.4
North Carolina ...............| 4,352,500 | 4,423,000 | 70,500 | 1.6
| | | |
Ohio .........................| 5,488,100 | 5,545,200 | 57,100 | 1.0
Oregon .......................| 1,836,500 | 1,878,100 | 41,600 | 2.3
Pennsylvania .................| 5,894,300 | 5,953,700 | 59,400 | 1.0
Rhode Island .................| 490,400 | 499,700 | 9,300 | 1.9
South Carolina ...............| 2,059,300 | 2,094,900 | 35,600 | 1.7
Tennessee ....................| 2,975,400 | 3,027,600 | 52,200 | 1.8
Texas ........................| 12,035,300 | 12,333,900 | 298,600 | 2.5
Utah .........................| 1,434,700 | 1,472,000 | 37,300 | 2.6
Virginia .....................| 3,922,500 | 3,981,200 | 58,700 | 1.5
Washington ...................| 3,256,800 | 3,324,100 | 67,300 | 2.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
