For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 18, 2019 USDL-19-0078
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 -- DECEMBER 2018
Unemployment rates were higher in December in 4 states, lower in 3 states, and stable in 43 states and the
District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Fourteen states had jobless rate
decreases from a year earlier and 36 states and the District had little or no change. The national
unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point from November to 3.9 percent but was 0.2 point lower than
in December 2017.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 8 states in December 2018 and was essentially unchanged in 42
states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, 40 states added nonfarm payroll jobs and 10 states and
the District were essentially unchanged.
Unemployment
Iowa had the lowest unemployment rate in December, 2.4 percent. Alaska had the highest jobless rate, 6.3
percent. In total, 16 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 3.9 percent, 8 states
and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 26 states had rates that were not appreciably different
from that of the nation. (See tables A and 1.)
In December, four states had unemployment rate increases: Colorado and Oregon (+0.2 percentage point each)
and Arizona and New Mexico (+0.1 point each). Three states had over-the-month rate decreases: Delaware,
Maryland, and North Dakota (-0.1 percentage point each). The remaining 43 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.
Fourteen states had unemployment rate changes from December 2017, all of which were decreases. The largest
decline occurred in New Mexico (-1.3 percentage points). (See table B.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in eight states in December 2018. The largest job gains occurred in Texas
(+38,000), Florida (+22,800), and Georgia (+16,700). In percentage terms, the largest increase occurred in
South Carolina (+0.5 percent), followed by Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, and Indiana (+0.4 percent each).
(See tables C and 3.)
Forty states had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment in December. The largest job gains
occurred in Texas (+391,800), California (+284,300), and Florida (+231,200). The largest percentage gain
occurred in Nevada (+3.9 percent), followed by Arizona (+3.4 percent) and Texas (+3.2 percent). (See table
D.)
_____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for December 2018 is scheduled to be
released on Wednesday, January 30, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. (EST). The Regional and State Unemployment 2018
Annual Averages news release is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 28, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.
(EST). The State Employment and Unemployment news release for January 2019 is scheduled to be released on
Monday, March 11, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).
______________________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Upcoming Changes to Local Area Unemployment Statistics Data |
| |
| Effective with the release of Regional and State Unemployment 2018 Annual Averages 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 will be 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 will be re-seasonally adjusted as well. Both not seasonally adjusted |
| and seasonally adjusted data are subject to revision back to 2014. |
|______________________________________________________________________________________________|
______________________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Upcoming Changes to Current Employment Statistics Data |
| |
| Effective with the release of January 2019 estimates on March 11, 2019, all nonfarm payroll |
| employment estimates for states and areas presented in tables 3 and 4 of this news release |
| will be adjusted to 2018 benchmark levels. |
| |
| Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2017 and seasonally adjusted data beginning|
| with January 2014 are subject to revision. Some seasonally adjusted series may be revised |
| back to 1990. |
|______________________________________________________________________________________________|
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., December 2018, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 3.9
|
Alaska ..............................| 6.3
Arizona .............................| 4.8
District of Columbia ................| 5.5
Florida .............................| 3.3
Hawaii ..............................| 2.5
Idaho ...............................| 2.6
Iowa ................................| 2.4
Kansas ..............................| 3.3
Louisiana ...........................| 4.9
Minnesota ...........................| 2.8
|
Mississippi .........................| 4.7
Missouri ............................| 3.1
Nebraska ............................| 2.8
New Hampshire .......................| 2.5
New Mexico ..........................| 4.7
North Dakota ........................| 2.7
Ohio ................................| 4.6
Oklahoma ............................| 3.2
South Dakota ........................| 2.9
Utah ................................| 3.2
|
Vermont .............................| 2.7
Virginia ............................| 2.8
Washington ..........................| 4.3
West Virginia .......................| 5.1
Wisconsin ...........................| 3.0
--------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Data are not preliminary.
(p) = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from December 2017 to December 2018, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | December | December | change(p)
| 2017 | 2018(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alaska .........................| 7.2 | 6.3 | -0.9
California .....................| 4.5 | 4.2 | -.3
Delaware .......................| 4.5 | 3.7 | -.8
Florida ........................| 3.9 | 3.3 | -.6
Georgia ........................| 4.5 | 3.6 | -.9
Iowa ...........................| 2.9 | 2.4 | -.5
New Jersey .....................| 4.7 | 4.0 | -.7
New Mexico .....................| 6.0 | 4.7 | -1.3
New York .......................| 4.7 | 3.9 | -.8
North Carolina .................| 4.5 | 3.6 | -.9
| | |
Oklahoma .......................| 4.1 | 3.2 | -.9
South Carolina .................| 4.2 | 3.3 | -.9
South Dakota ...................| 3.4 | 2.9 | -.5
Virginia .......................| 3.6 | 2.8 | -.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant employment changes from
November 2018 to December 2018, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-month change(p)
State | November | December |---------------------------
| 2018 | 2018(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 2,055,700 | 2,063,800 | 8,100 | 0.4
Colorado .....................| 2,752,400 | 2,762,200 | 9,800 | .4
Florida ......................| 8,868,400 | 8,891,200 | 22,800 | .3
Georgia ......................| 4,584,300 | 4,601,000 | 16,700 | .4
Indiana ......................| 3,146,200 | 3,159,400 | 13,200 | .4
South Carolina ...............| 2,140,400 | 2,151,200 | 10,800 | .5
Texas ........................| 12,706,100 | 12,744,100 | 38,000 | .3
Washington ...................| 3,463,300 | 3,474,700 | 11,400 | .3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
December 2017 to December 2018, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-year change(p)
State | December | December |---------------------------
| 2017 | 2018(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 2,020,200 | 2,063,800 | 43,600 | 2.2
Arizona ......................| 2,795,100 | 2,889,200 | 94,100 | 3.4
Arkansas .....................| 1,239,000 | 1,256,100 | 17,100 | 1.4
California ...................| 17,002,900 | 17,287,200 | 284,300 | 1.7
Colorado .....................| 2,686,800 | 2,762,200 | 75,400 | 2.8
Connecticut ..................| 1,685,600 | 1,705,500 | 19,900 | 1.2
Delaware .....................| 455,500 | 465,700 | 10,200 | 2.2
Florida ......................| 8,660,000 | 8,891,200 | 231,200 | 2.7
Georgia ......................| 4,487,200 | 4,601,000 | 113,800 | 2.5
Idaho ........................| 728,100 | 742,600 | 14,500 | 2.0
| | | |
Illinois .....................| 6,081,200 | 6,152,200 | 71,000 | 1.2
Indiana ......................| 3,114,900 | 3,159,400 | 44,500 | 1.4
Kansas .......................| 1,411,300 | 1,431,400 | 20,100 | 1.4
Kentucky .....................| 1,924,000 | 1,945,300 | 21,300 | 1.1
Maryland .....................| 2,716,100 | 2,767,000 | 50,900 | 1.9
Massachusetts ................| 3,628,600 | 3,694,400 | 65,800 | 1.8
Michigan .....................| 4,394,800 | 4,449,800 | 55,000 | 1.3
Minnesota ....................| 2,943,700 | 2,975,900 | 32,200 | 1.1
Missouri .....................| 2,880,600 | 2,919,600 | 39,000 | 1.4
Nebraska .....................| 1,021,100 | 1,033,800 | 12,700 | 1.2
| | | |
Nevada .......................| 1,359,800 | 1,412,200 | 52,400 | 3.9
New Hampshire ................| 677,900 | 696,000 | 18,100 | 2.7
New Jersey ...................| 4,146,800 | 4,208,700 | 61,900 | 1.5
New Mexico ...................| 835,800 | 855,700 | 19,900 | 2.4
New York .....................| 9,573,000 | 9,694,900 | 121,900 | 1.3
North Carolina ...............| 4,449,200 | 4,536,400 | 87,200 | 2.0
North Dakota .................| 426,200 | 435,200 | 9,000 | 2.1
Ohio .........................| 5,534,300 | 5,650,800 | 116,500 | 2.1
Oklahoma .....................| 1,677,900 | 1,703,400 | 25,500 | 1.5
Oregon .......................| 1,896,800 | 1,931,900 | 35,100 | 1.9
| | | |
Pennsylvania .................| 5,993,600 | 6,068,400 | 74,800 | 1.2
South Carolina ...............| 2,110,000 | 2,151,200 | 41,200 | 2.0
South Dakota .................| 438,200 | 447,000 | 8,800 | 2.0
Tennessee ....................| 3,027,000 | 3,086,100 | 59,100 | 2.0
Texas ........................| 12,352,300 | 12,744,100 | 391,800 | 3.2
Utah .........................| 1,490,300 | 1,536,700 | 46,400 | 3.1
Virginia .....................| 3,954,100 | 4,031,100 | 77,000 | 1.9
Washington ...................| 3,370,700 | 3,474,700 | 104,000 | 3.1
Wisconsin ....................| 2,953,300 | 3,001,600 | 48,300 | 1.6
Wyoming ......................| 283,300 | 291,300 | 8,000 | 2.8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
