State employment changes, February 2010

In February, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 27 States and the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Virginia (‑32,600), followed by California (‑20,400), Michigan and Pennsylvania (‑16,000 each), Maryland (‑13,800), and Texas (‑13,000).

[Chart data]

Alaska experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decrease in employment (‑1.0 percent), followed by Virginia (‑0.9 percent), and Arkansas, the District of Columbia, and Maryland (‑0.6 percent each).

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 23 States in February. The largest over-the-month increase in employment occurred in Florida (+26,300), followed by New York (+5,800), Alabama (+5,600), Wisconsin (+5,200), Nevada (+5,100), and South Carolina (+5,000).

Nevada experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+0.5 percent), followed by Florida and New Hampshire (+0.4 percent each) and Alabama, South Carolina, and Vermont (+0.3 percent each).

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) program and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — February 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0363.