For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Monday, March 11, 2019 USDL-19-0398
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 -- JANUARY 2019
Unemployment rates were lower in January in 3 states, higher in 3 states, and stable
in 44 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Nine states had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier, 1 state had an
increase, and 40 states and the District had little or no change. The national
unemployment rate edged up to 4.0 percent over the month and was little changed from
January 2018.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 13 states in January 2019 and was essentially
unchanged in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, 26 states added
nonfarm payroll jobs and 24 states and the District were essentially unchanged.
Unemployment
Iowa and New Hampshire had the lowest unemployment rates in January, 2.4 percent each.
The rate in Vermont (2.5 percent) set a new series low. (All state series begin in 1976.)
Alaska had the highest jobless rate, 6.5 percent. In total, 19 states had unemployment
rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.0 percent, 8 states and the District of Columbia
had higher rates, and 23 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that
of the nation. (See tables A and 1.)
In January, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming had unemployment rate decreases (-0.1
percentage point each). The three states with rate increases were Arizona (+0.2 percentage
point) and Georgia and Minnesota (+0.1 point each). The remaining 44 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.
____________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Changes to Employment and Unemployment Data |
| |
| In accordance with standard practices, historical data have been revised |
| in the tables of this news release. For detailed information on changes to |
| the data, see the box notes at the end of the news release. |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
Nine states had unemployment rate decreases from January 2018, the largest of which was in
Connecticut (-0.8 percentage point). The only unemployment rate increase occurred in Colorado
(+0.8 percentage point). (See table B.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 13 states in January 2019. The largest job gains
occurred in North Carolina (+34,700), Illinois (+24,400), and Virginia (+23,700). In
percentage terms, the largest increase occurred in West Virginia (+1.1 percent), followed
by North Carolina (+0.8 percent), and Idaho, Maine, Oregon, and Virginia (+0.6 percent each).
(See tables C and 3.)
Twenty-six states had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment in January. The
largest job gains occurred in Texas (+292,000), California (+246,400), and Florida (+209,500).
The largest percentage gain occurred in Nevada (+3.9 percent), followed by Utah (+3.4 percent)
and Arizona (+2.8 percent). (See table D.)
_____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for January is scheduled to be
released on Friday, March 15, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The State Employment and Unemployment
news release for February is scheduled to be released on Friday, March 22, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.
(EDT).
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| |
| Partial Federal Government Shutdown |
| |
| Some federal government agencies were shut down or operating at reduced staffing |
| levels during a lapse in appropriations from December 22, 2018, through January 25, |
| 2019. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was funded during the shutdown period |
| and was operating as usual. Data collection for the household and establishment |
| surveys occurred as scheduled. Additional information is available online at |
| www.bls.gov/bls/shutdown_2019_empsit_qa.pdf. |
|_____________________________________________________________________________________|
_____________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Changes to Local Area Unemployment Statistics Data |
| |
| On Thursday, February 28, 2019, the civilian labor force and unemployment data |
| for the states, the District of Columbia, and the modeled substate areas presented |
| in tables 1 and 2 of this news release were revised to incorporate updated inputs, |
| new population controls, reestimation of models, and adjustment to new census |
| division and national control totals. Data in table 1 were re-seasonally adjusted |
| as well. Both not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted data were subject to |
| revision back to January 2014. |
|_____________________________________________________________________________________|
_____________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Changes to Current Employment Statistics (CES) Data |
| |
| Effective with this news release, all nonfarm payroll employment estimates for |
| states and metropolitan areas (tables 3 and 4) have been revised as a result of |
| annual benchmark processing to reflect 2018 employment counts primarily from the |
| BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), as well as updating of |
| seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2017 |
| and seasonlally adjusted data beginning with January 2014 were subject to revision. |
| Some seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted series may have been revised |
| back to 1990. Information on annual benchmark processing is available at |
| www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.pdf. |
|_____________________________________________________________________________________|
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., January 2019, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 4.0
|
Alaska ..............................| 6.5
Arizona .............................| 5.1
District of Columbia ................| 5.4
Florida .............................| 3.4
Hawaii ..............................| 2.7
Idaho ...............................| 2.8
Iowa ................................| 2.4
Kansas ..............................| 3.4
Louisiana ...........................| 4.9
Massachusetts .......................| 3.1
|
Minnesota ...........................| 3.0
Mississippi .........................| 4.7
Missouri ............................| 3.2
Nebraska ............................| 2.8
New Hampshire .......................| 2.4
New Mexico ..........................| 5.1
North Dakota ........................| 2.5
Ohio ................................| 4.7
Oklahoma ............................| 3.2
South Carolina ......................| 3.2
|
South Dakota ........................| 2.9
Tennessee ...........................| 3.3
Utah ................................| 3.1
Vermont .............................| 2.5
Virginia ............................| 2.8
Washington ..........................| 4.5
West Virginia .......................| 5.2
Wisconsin ...........................| 3.0
--------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Data are not preliminary.
(p) = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from January 2018 to January 2019, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | January | January | change(p)
| 2018 | 2019(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
California .....................| 4.4 | 4.2 | -0.2
Colorado .......................| 2.9 | 3.7 | .8
Connecticut ....................| 4.6 | 3.8 | -.8
Delaware .......................| 4.1 | 3.5 | -.6
Florida ........................| 3.9 | 3.4 | -.5
Maryland .......................| 4.2 | 3.7 | -.5
New York .......................| 4.5 | 3.9 | -.6
Oklahoma .......................| 3.9 | 3.2 | -.7
South Carolina .................| 3.9 | 3.2 | -.7
Virginia .......................| 3.3 | 2.8 | -.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant employment changes from
December 2018 to January 2019, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-month change(p)
State | December | January |---------------------------
| 2018 | 2019(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delaware .....................| 464,200 | 466,700 | 2,500 | 0.5
Idaho ........................| 742,300 | 746,800 | 4,500 | .6
Illinois .....................| 6,148,300 | 6,172,700 | 24,400 | .4
Maine ........................| 627,900 | 631,900 | 4,000 | .6
Massachusetts ................| 3,649,200 | 3,660,600 | 11,400 | .3
New Jersey ...................| 4,179,100 | 4,196,900 | 17,800 | .4
North Carolina ...............| 4,499,700 | 4,534,400 | 34,700 | .8
Ohio .........................| 5,583,300 | 5,603,600 | 20,300 | .4
Oregon .......................| 1,920,900 | 1,931,900 | 11,000 | .6
South Dakota .................| 445,600 | 447,900 | 2,300 | .5
| | | |
Virginia .....................| 4,008,600 | 4,032,300 | 23,700 | .6
Washington ...................| 3,444,200 | 3,456,500 | 12,300 | .4
West Virginia ................| 730,400 | 738,200 | 7,800 | 1.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
January 2018 to January 2019, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-year change(p)
State | January | January |---------------------------
| 2018 | 2019(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 2,030,300 | 2,057,900 | 27,600 | 1.4
Arizona ......................| 2,820,000 | 2,898,700 | 78,700 | 2.8
California ...................| 17,058,800 | 17,305,200 | 246,400 | 1.4
Colorado .....................| 2,700,000 | 2,749,300 | 49,300 | 1.8
Delaware .....................| 459,300 | 466,700 | 7,400 | 1.6
Florida ......................| 8,690,800 | 8,900,300 | 209,500 | 2.4
Georgia ......................| 4,495,900 | 4,589,800 | 93,900 | 2.1
Idaho ........................| 729,500 | 746,800 | 17,300 | 2.4
Illinois .....................| 6,094,700 | 6,172,700 | 78,000 | 1.3
Indiana ......................| 3,133,000 | 3,168,400 | 35,400 | 1.1
| | | |
Kentucky .....................| 1,924,200 | 1,946,900 | 22,700 | 1.2
Michigan .....................| 4,395,000 | 4,442,000 | 47,000 | 1.1
Nevada .......................| 1,363,200 | 1,416,500 | 53,300 | 3.9
New Jersey ...................| 4,138,900 | 4,196,900 | 58,000 | 1.4
New York .....................| 9,617,200 | 9,724,400 | 107,200 | 1.1
North Carolina ...............| 4,460,600 | 4,534,400 | 73,800 | 1.7
Ohio .........................| 5,548,100 | 5,603,600 | 55,500 | 1.0
Oregon .......................| 1,903,700 | 1,931,900 | 28,200 | 1.5
South Carolina ...............| 2,139,600 | 2,173,900 | 34,300 | 1.6
South Dakota .................| 437,000 | 447,900 | 10,900 | 2.5
| | | |
Tennessee ....................| 3,034,400 | 3,095,600 | 61,200 | 2.0
Texas ........................| 12,357,300 | 12,649,300 | 292,000 | 2.4
Utah .........................| 1,495,500 | 1,546,400 | 50,900 | 3.4
Virginia .....................| 3,988,200 | 4,032,300 | 44,100 | 1.1
Washington ...................| 3,372,600 | 3,456,500 | 83,900 | 2.5
West Virginia ................| 718,700 | 738,200 | 19,500 | 2.7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
