State employment and unemployment, April 2013

From April 2012 to April 2013, nonfarm employment increased in 47 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 3 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+3.7 percent) and Utah (+3.5 percent); the largest decreases occurred in Wyoming (−0.5 percent) and Maine (−0.3 percent). Nevada had the highest unemployment rate among the states, 9.6 percent in April 2013, followed by Illinois (9.3 percent), Mississippi (9.1 percent) and California (9.0 percent). North Dakota again registered the lowest jobless rate, 3.3 percent.

Over the year, 28 states experienced statistically significant changes in employment; all of which were positive. Among those states, North Dakota recorded the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (+3.7 percent), followed by Utah (+3.5 percent) and Texas (+3.0 percent).

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States with statistically significant employment changes, seasonally adjusted, April 2012–April 2013

State	Percent change in nonfarm employment from April 2012 to April 2013(p)	Statistical significance
Alabama	0.3	Not statistically significant change
Alaska	0.1	Not statistically significant change
Arizona	1.7	Statistically significant, increase
Arkansas	0.8	Not statistically significant change
California	1.9	Statistically significant, increase
Colorado	2.7	Statistically significant, increase
Connecticut	0.7	Not statistically significant change
Delaware	1.6	Statistically significant, increase
District of Columbia	0.4	Not statistically significant change
Florida	1.6	Statistically significant, increase
Georgia	1.7	Statistically significant, increase
Hawaii	0.8	Not statistically significant change
Idaho	2.5	Statistically significant, increase
Illinois	0.7	Statistically significant, increase
Indiana	1.2	Statistically significant, increase
Iowa	0.8	Not statistically significant change
Kansas	0.8	Not statistically significant change
Kentucky	0.8	Not statistically significant change
Louisiana	0.8	Not statistically significant change
Maine	-0.3	Not statistically significant change
Maryland	1.3	Statistically significant, increase
Massachusetts	1.4	Statistically significant, increase
Michigan	0.8	Statistically significant, increase
Minnesota	0.8	Not statistically significant change
Mississippi	1.5	Statistically significant, increase
Missouri	1.0	Statistically significant, increase
Montana	1.3	Not statistically significant change
Nebraska	0.2	Not statistically significant change
Nevada	2.0	Statistically significant, increase
New Hampshire	1.0	Not statistically significant change
New Jersey	1.8	Statistically significant, increase
New Mexico	0.7	Not statistically significant change
New York	1.3	Statistically significant, increase
North Carolina	1.8	Statistically significant, increase
North Dakota	3.7	Statistically significant, increase
Ohio	0.1	Not statistically significant change
Oklahoma	1.2	Statistically significant, increase
Oregon	1.5	Statistically significant, increase
Pennsylvania	0.4	Not statistically significant change
Rhode Island	0.6	Not statistically significant change
South Carolina	1.3	Statistically significant, increase
South Dakota	0.9	Not statistically significant change
Tennessee	1.8	Statistically significant, increase
Texas	3.0	Statistically significant, increase
Utah	3.5	Statistically significant, increase
Vermont	1.7	Statistically significant, increase
Virginia	1.0	Statistically significant, increase
Washington	2.0	Statistically significant, increase
West Virginia	0.3	Not statistically significant change
Wisconsin	-0.2	Not statistically significant change
Wyoming	-0.5	Not statistically significant change
Footnotes: (p) Preliminary.

In April 2013, nineteen states reported jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 7.5 percent, 8 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 23 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

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Unemployment rates by state, seasonally adjusted, April 2013 (U.S. rate = 7.5 percent)

State	Unemployment rate (p)	Difference from U.S. rate
Alabama	6.9	Not statistically different
Alaska	6.0	Statistically significant, below
Arizona	7.9	Not statistically different
Arkansas	7.1	Not statistically different
California	9.0	Statistically significant, above
Colorado	6.9	Not statistically different
Connecticut	8.0	Not statistically different
Delaware	7.2	Not statistically different
District of Columbia	8.5	Statistically significant, above
Florida	7.2	Not statistically different
Georgia	8.2	Not statistically different
Hawaii	4.9	Statistically significant, below
Idaho	6.1	Statistically significant, below
Illinois	9.3	Statistically significant, above
Indiana	8.5	Statistically significant, above
Iowa	4.7	Statistically significant, below
Kansas	5.5	Statistically significant, below
Kentucky	7.9	Not statistically different
Louisiana	6.5	Not statistically different
Maine	6.9	Not statistically different
Maryland	6.5	Statistically significant, below
Massachusetts	6.4	Statistically significant, below
Michigan	8.4	Not statistically different
Minnesota	5.3	Statistically significant, below
Mississippi	9.1	Statistically significant, above
Missouri	6.6	Not statistically different
Montana	5.5	Statistically significant, below
Nebraska	3.7	Statistically significant, below
Nevada	9.6	Statistically significant, above
New Hampshire	5.5	Statistically significant, below
New Jersey	8.7	Statistically significant, above
New Mexico	6.7	Not statistically different
New York	7.8	Not statistically different
North Carolina	8.9	Statistically significant, above
North Dakota	3.3	Statistically significant, below
Ohio	7.0	Not statistically different
Oklahoma	4.9	Statistically significant, below
Oregon	8.0	Not statistically different
Pennsylvania	7.6	Not statistically different
Rhode Island	8.8	Statistically significant, above
South Carolina	8.0	Not statistically different
South Dakota	4.1	Statistically significant, below
Tennessee	8.0	Not statistically different
Texas	6.4	Statistically significant, below
Utah	4.7	Statistically significant, below
Vermont	4.0	Statistically significant, below
Virginia	5.2	Statistically significant, below
Washington	7.0	Not statistically different
West Virginia	6.6	Not statistically different
Wisconsin	7.1	Not statistically different
Wyoming	4.8	Statistically significant, below
Footnotes: (p) Preliminary.

From April 2012 to April 2013, fifteen states reported statistically significant unemployment rate changes, all of which were declines. The largest of these occurred in Nevada (−1.9 percentage points), followed by Rhode Island (−1.8 points) and California and Florida (−1.7 points each).

Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to have the highest jobless rate, 8.5 percent in April. The West North Central again had the lowest rate, 5.4 percent. Three divisions had significant unemployment rate changes from a year earlier: the Pacific (−1.6 percentage points) and the Mountain and South Atlantic (−0.9 point each).

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 — April 2013" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL‑13‑0931.