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From October 2014 to October 2015, 25 states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which occurred in Rhode Island (−1.7 percentage points, as the unemployment rate dropped from 7.0 percent to 5.3 percent) and Michigan (−1.6 points, as the unemployment rate went from 6.6 percent to 5.0 percent).
State | Unemployment rate | Number of unemployed | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 2014 | Oct 2015 | Over-the-year change, in percentage point(s) |
Oct 2014 | Oct 2015 | Over-the-year change | |
California |
7.2 | 5.8 | -1.4 | 1,366,200 | 1,094,700 | -271,500 |
Colorado |
4.4 | 3.8 | -0.6 | 124,100 | 105,800 | -18,300 |
Connecticut |
6.3 | 5.1 | -1.2 | 119,700 | 97,000 | -22,700 |
District of Columbia |
7.7 | 6.6 | -1.1 | 29,600 | 25,500 | -4,100 |
Florida |
5.8 | 5.1 | -0.7 | 557,500 | 492,100 | -65,400 |
Georgia |
6.8 | 5.7 | -1.1 | 321,800 | 269,000 | -52,800 |
Hawaii |
4.1 | 3.3 | -0.8 | 27,600 | 22,500 | -5,100 |
Idaho |
4.6 | 4.0 | -0.6 | 35,800 | 32,400 | -3,400 |
Illinois |
6.3 | 5.4 | -0.9 | 411,400 | 353,400 | -58,000 |
Indiana |
5.8 | 4.4 | -1.4 | 189,500 | 144,000 | -45,500 |
Iowa |
4.3 | 3.5 | -0.8 | 73,800 | 60,300 | -13,500 |
Maine |
5.6 | 4.3 | -1.3 | 38,700 | 29,100 | -9,600 |
Michigan |
6.6 | 5.0 | -1.6 | 313,700 | 238,100 | -75,600 |
Mississippi |
7.3 | 5.9 | -1.4 | 88,600 | 75,000 | -13,600 |
New Hampshire |
4.1 | 3.3 | -0.8 | 30,200 | 24,400 | -5,800 |
New Jersey |
6.4 | 5.4 | -1.0 | 288,500 | 243,600 | -44,900 |
New Mexico |
6.2 | 6.8 | 0.6 | 56,800 | 62,400 | 5,600 |
New York |
5.9 | 4.8 | -1.1 | 562,100 | 466,100 | -96,000 |
Ohio |
5.2 | 4.4 | -0.8 | 300,200 | 248,700 | -51,500 |
Oregon |
6.8 | 6.0 | -0.8 | 133,700 | 117,700 | -16,000 |
Rhode Island |
7.0 | 5.3 | -1.7 | 38,800 | 29,400 | -9,400 |
South Carolina |
6.6 | 5.6 | -1.0 | 145,700 | 126,600 | -19,100 |
Tennessee |
6.6 | 5.6 | -1.0 | 197,500 | 169,600 | -27,900 |
Vermont |
4.2 | 3.7 | -0.5 | 14,500 | 12,800 | -1,700 |
Virginia |
4.9 | 4.2 | -0.7 | 207,000 | 177,600 | -29,400 |
Washington |
6.3 | 5.2 | -1.1 | 220,300 | 183,400 | -36,900 |
Wisconsin |
5.3 | 4.3 | -1.0 | 163,600 | 131,400 | -32,200 |
Note: Data for the most recent month are preliminary. |
In Rhode Island, the number of unemployed declined from 38,800 to 29,400 over the October 2014 to October 2015 period, a decrease of 9,400. In Michigan, there was a decrease of 75,600, as the number of unemployed declined from 313,700 to 238,100.
The largest decrease in the number of unemployed (−271,500) occurred in California, where the number of unemployed went from 1,366,200 to 1,094,700. The unemployment rate declined by 1.4 percentage points, from 7.2 percent to 5.8 percent.
The only significant over-the-year rate increase was in New Mexico (+0.6 percentage point), where the rate went from 6.2 percent to 6.8 percent and the number of unemployed went up from 56,800 to 62,400 (a change of 5,600).
These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. Data for the most recent month are subject to revision. To learn more, see "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — October 2015" (HTML) (PDF).
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Rhode Island unemployment rate declines 1.7 percentage points, October 2014 to October 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/rhode-island-unemployment-rate-declines-1-point-7-percentage-points-october-2014-to-october-2015.htm (visited October 14, 2024).