State employment and unemployment, August 2012

In August 2012, 13 states and the District of Columbia recorded statistically significant over-the-month changes in employment, 7 of which were increases. The largest statistically significant increases in employment occurred in Texas (+38,000), Florida (+23,200), and Missouri (+17,900).

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The largest statistically significant decline in employment occurred in Virginia (−12,400), followed by the District of Columbia (−11,200) and Washington (−8,800).

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in August. Nevada continued to record the highest unemployment rate among the states, 12.1 percent in August. Rhode Island and California posted the next highest rates, 10.7 and 10.6 percent, respectively. North Dakota again registered the lowest jobless rate, 3.0 percent.

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In August, 21 states reported jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 8.1 percent, 12 states had measurably higher rates, and 17 states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) and Local Area Unemployment Statistics programs. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — August 2012" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-1890.