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Illinois and Nevada have largest declines in unemployment rate, September 2013 to September 2014
October 23, 2014
From September 2013 to September 2014, 26 states had statistically significant unemployment rate changes, all of which were decreases. The largest of these occurred in Illinois (where the unemployment rate decreased from 9.1 percent to 6.6 percent, a change of −2.5 percentage points) and Nevada (which had a decrease from 9.6 percent to 7.3 percent, a change of −2.3 points).
Unemployment rate and number of unemployed in September 2014 and 12-month change in the unemployment rate for states with statistically significant changes, seasonally adjusted
State
Unemployment rate,
September 2014
Over-the-year change,
September 2013 to September 2014
Number of unemployed,
September 2014
Illinois
6.6%
-2.5
427,600
Nevada
7.3
-2.3
100,100
Colorado
4.7
-1.9
131,300
Rhode Island
7.6
-1.9
42,300
Ohio
5.6
-1.8
318,600
Indiana
5.7
-1.6
184,600
Kentucky
6.7
-1.6
134,100
Michigan
7.2
-1.6
342,500
Pennsylvania
5.7
-1.6
360,400
Arkansas
6.2
-1.5
81,000
California
7.3
-1.5
1,361,200
Idaho
4.5
-1.5
34,700
New Jersey
6.5
-1.4
294,400
Connecticut
6.4
-1.3
119,800
New York
6.2
-1.3
586,500
Massachusetts
6.0
-1.2
213,200
Washington
5.7
-1.2
198,300
Texas
5.2
-1.1
679,600
Wisconsin
5.5
-1.1
169,400
Montana
4.6
-1.0
23,900
North Carolina
6.7
-1.0
310,300
New Hampshire
4.3
-0.9
32,100
Florida
6.1
-0.8
589,600
Maine
5.8
-0.8
40,700
Minnesota
4.1
-0.8
122,100
Utah
3.5
-0.8
50,600
Note: Data are preliminary.
Both Colorado (where the unemployment rate declined from 6.6 percent to 4.7 percent) and Rhode Island (9.5 percent to 7.6 percent) had over-the-year changes of −1.9 percentage points. In Ohio, the unemployment rate changed by −1.8 percentage points from September 2013 to September 2014.
Georgia's unemployment rate in September 2014 was the highest among all of the states, 7.9 percent. Mississippi and the District of Columbia each had unemployment rates of 7.7 percent. The Dakotas had the lowest jobless rates, 2.8 percent in North Dakota and 3.4 percent in South Dakota. These rates were not appreciably different from those of a year earlier.
These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — September 2014" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-14-1963.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Illinois and Nevada have largest declines in unemployment rate, September 2013 to September 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20141023.htm (visited July 18, 2025).
United States Department of Labor
