For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, June 16, 2017 USDL-17-0819
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 -- MAY 2017
Unemployment rates were lower in May in 9 states, higher in 3 states, and stable in
38 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Twenty-two states had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier and 28 states
and the District had little or no change. The national unemployment rate, 4.3 percent,
was little changed from April but was 0.4 percentage point lower than in May 2016.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 9 states and the District of Columbia in
May 2017, decreased in 4, and was essentially unchanged in 37 states. Over the year,
28 states added nonfarm payroll jobs and 22 states and the District were essentially
unchanged.
Unemployment
Colorado had the lowest unemployment rate in May, 2.3 percent, followed by North
Dakota, 2.5 percent. The rates in Arkansas (3.4 percent), Mississippi (4.9 percent),
Oregon (3.6 percent), and Washington (4.5 percent) set new series lows. (All state
series begin in 1976.) Alaska and New Mexico had the highest jobless rates, 6.7
percent and 6.6 percent, respectively. In total, 17 states had unemployment rates
lower than the U.S. figure of 4.3 percent, 8 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 May, nine states had unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which was in
Tennessee (-0.7 percentage point). Three states had notable rate increases, the
largest of which was in Massachusetts (+0.3 percentage point). The remaining 38
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-two states had unemployment rate changes from May 2016, all of which were
decreases. The largest of these declines occurred in West Virginia and Wyoming
(-1.5 percentage points each), closely followed by Indiana and Oregon (-1.4 points
each). (See table C.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Nine states and the District of Columbia had over-the-month increases in nonfarm
payroll employment and four states had decreases in May 2017. The largest increase
in employment over the month occurred in Florida (+29,600), followed by New York
(+27,700) and North Carolina (+18,800). In percentage terms, the largest increase
occurred in the District of Columbia (+0.8 percent), followed by Alaska (+0.7 percent)
and Alabama and Louisiana (+0.5 percent each). The decreases in employment occurred
in New Jersey (-13,100), Nevada (-6,500), West Virginia (-4,100), and New Hampshire
(-3,800). In percentage terms, the largest decrease occurred in New Hampshire (-0.6
percent), followed by Nevada and West Virginia (-0.5 percent each) and New Jersey
(-0.3 percent). (See tables D and 3.)
Twenty-eight states had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment in
May. The largest job gains occurred in Texas (+266,600), California (+242,600), and
Florida (+228,000). The largest percentage gain occurred in Utah (+3.3 percent),
followed by Florida and Nevada (+2.7 percent each) and Colorado, Georgia, Idaho,
Oregon, and Washington (+2.4 percent each). (See table E.)
_____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for May is scheduled
to be released on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The State Employment
and Unemployment news release for June is scheduled to be released on Friday,
July 21, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., May 2017, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 4.3
|
Alaska ..............................| 6.7
Arizona .............................| 5.1
Arkansas ............................| 3.4
Colorado ............................| 2.3
District of Columbia ................| 6.0
Georgia .............................| 4.9
Hawaii ..............................| 2.7
Idaho ...............................| 3.2
Indiana .............................| 3.2
Iowa ................................| 3.1
|
Kansas ..............................| 3.7
Louisiana ...........................| 5.7
Maine ...............................| 3.2
Nebraska ............................| 2.9
New Hampshire .......................| 2.9
New Mexico ..........................| 6.6
North Dakota ........................| 2.5
Ohio ................................| 4.9
Oregon ..............................| 3.6
Pennsylvania ........................| 5.0
|
South Dakota ........................| 2.9
Texas ...............................| 4.8
Utah ................................| 3.2
Vermont .............................| 3.1
Virginia ............................| 3.8
Wisconsin ...........................| 3.1
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 Data are not preliminary.
p = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from April 2017 to May 2017, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-month
State | April | May | change(p)
| 2017 | 2017(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................| 5.4 | 4.9 | -0.5
Alaska .........................| 6.6 | 6.7 | .1
California .....................| 4.8 | 4.7 | -.1
Florida ........................| 4.5 | 4.3 | -.2
Indiana ........................| 3.6 | 3.2 | -.4
Maine ..........................| 3.0 | 3.2 | .2
Massachusetts ..................| 3.9 | 4.2 | .3
Michigan .......................| 4.7 | 4.2 | -.5
North Carolina .................| 4.7 | 4.5 | -.2
North Dakota ...................| 2.7 | 2.5 | -.2
Tennessee ......................| 4.7 | 4.0 | -.7
Wyoming ........................| 4.3 | 4.1 | -.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from May 2016 to May 2017, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | May | May | change(p)
| 2016 | 2017(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................| 5.8 | 4.9 | -0.9
California .....................| 5.5 | 4.7 | -.8
Colorado .......................| 3.4 | 2.3 | -1.1
Florida ........................| 4.9 | 4.3 | -.6
Idaho ..........................| 3.8 | 3.2 | -.6
Illinois .......................| 5.9 | 4.6 | -1.3
Indiana ........................| 4.6 | 3.2 | -1.4
Iowa ...........................| 3.8 | 3.1 | -.7
Maine ..........................| 3.9 | 3.2 | -.7
Mississippi ....................| 5.9 | 4.9 | -1.0
| | |
Nevada .........................| 5.8 | 4.7 | -1.1
New Jersey .....................| 5.1 | 4.1 | -1.0
New York .......................| 4.8 | 4.4 | -.4
North Dakota ...................| 3.3 | 2.5 | -.8
Oklahoma .......................| 5.0 | 4.3 | -.7
Oregon .........................| 5.0 | 3.6 | -1.4
Rhode Island ...................| 5.4 | 4.1 | -1.3
South Carolina .................| 5.1 | 4.1 | -1.0
Washington .....................| 5.6 | 4.5 | -1.1
West Virginia ..................| 6.0 | 4.5 | -1.5
Wisconsin ......................| 4.1 | 3.1 | -1.0
Wyoming ........................| 5.6 | 4.1 | -1.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from April 2017 to
May 2017, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-month change(p)
State | April | May |---------------------------
| 2017 | 2017(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 1,997,600 | 2,007,200 | 9,600 | 0.5
Alaska .......................| 328,400 | 330,700 | 2,300 | .7
Colorado .....................| 2,635,000 | 2,645,600 | 10,600 | .4
Connecticut ..................| 1,681,600 | 1,688,300 | 6,700 | .4
District of Columbia .........| 786,700 | 792,800 | 6,100 | .8
Florida ......................| 8,552,400 | 8,582,000 | 29,600 | .3
Louisiana ....................| 1,972,700 | 1,983,200 | 10,500 | .5
Nevada .......................| 1,333,600 | 1,327,100 | -6,500 | -.5
New Hampshire ................| 678,500 | 674,700 | -3,800 | -.6
New Jersey ...................| 4,116,700 | 4,103,600 | -13,100 | -.3
| | | |
New York .....................| 9,485,000 | 9,512,700 | 27,700 | .3
North Carolina ...............| 4,379,100 | 4,397,900 | 18,800 | .4
South Carolina ...............| 2,073,300 | 2,080,900 | 7,600 | .4
West Virginia ................| 747,100 | 743,000 | -4,100 | -.5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from May 2016 to
May 2017, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | Over-the-year change(p)
State | May | May |---------------------------
| 2016 | 2017(p) | Level | Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................| 1,971,400 | 2,007,200 | 35,800 | 1.8
Arizona ......................| 2,695,300 | 2,744,600 | 49,300 | 1.8
Arkansas .....................| 1,224,700 | 1,246,700 | 22,000 | 1.8
California ...................| 16,454,900 | 16,697,500 | 242,600 | 1.5
Colorado .....................| 2,583,600 | 2,645,600 | 62,000 | 2.4
Florida ......................| 8,354,000 | 8,582,000 | 228,000 | 2.7
Georgia ......................| 4,362,200 | 4,465,300 | 103,100 | 2.4
Idaho ........................| 692,000 | 708,800 | 16,800 | 2.4
Indiana ......................| 3,072,900 | 3,114,600 | 41,700 | 1.4
Kentucky .....................| 1,911,100 | 1,937,500 | 26,400 | 1.4
| | | |
Maryland .....................| 2,700,900 | 2,744,000 | 43,100 | 1.6
Massachusetts ................| 3,549,600 | 3,607,900 | 58,300 | 1.6
Michigan .....................| 4,308,200 | 4,382,600 | 74,400 | 1.7
Minnesota ....................| 2,890,800 | 2,938,500 | 47,700 | 1.7
Missouri .....................| 2,830,800 | 2,877,800 | 47,000 | 1.7
Nevada .......................| 1,292,100 | 1,327,100 | 35,000 | 2.7
New Jersey ...................| 4,060,500 | 4,103,600 | 43,100 | 1.1
New York .....................| 9,363,600 | 9,512,700 | 149,100 | 1.6
North Carolina ...............| 4,328,700 | 4,397,900 | 69,200 | 1.6
Oregon .......................| 1,828,500 | 1,871,800 | 43,300 | 2.4
| | | |
Pennsylvania .................| 5,867,700 | 5,921,700 | 54,000 | .9
South Carolina ...............| 2,048,200 | 2,080,900 | 32,700 | 1.6
Tennessee ....................| 2,953,700 | 3,011,200 | 57,500 | 1.9
Texas ........................| 11,994,900 | 12,261,500 | 266,600 | 2.2
Utah .........................| 1,421,800 | 1,468,400 | 46,600 | 3.3
Virginia .....................| 3,907,100 | 3,951,500 | 44,400 | 1.1
Washington ...................| 3,235,000 | 3,311,200 | 76,200 | 2.4
Wisconsin ....................| 2,916,700 | 2,957,100 | 40,400 | 1.4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
