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Unemployment rates declined over the year in 11 states and were unchanged in 39

June 25, 2018

In May 2018, 11 states had statistically significant declines in their unemployment rates from a year earlier. The other 39 states and the District of Columbia did not have statistically significant changes. The national unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, down from 4.3 percent in May 2017.
Unemployment rates by state, seasonally adjusted, May 2018
State May 2017 May 2018(p) Over-the-year change(p)

New Mexico

 6.2% 5.1% -1.1 percentage points

Kentucky

 5.1 4.1 -1.0

Ohio

 5.1 4.3 -0.8

Alabama

 4.6 3.9 -0.7

California

 4.9 4.2 -0.7

Louisiana

 5.3 4.6 -0.7

Delaware

 4.6 4.0 -0.6

District of Columbia

 6.2 5.6 -0.6

Georgia

 4.8 4.2 -0.6

Illinois

 4.9 4.3 -0.6

Maine

 3.4 2.8 -0.6

Mississippi

 5.3 4.7 -0.6

Virginia

 3.8 3.2 -0.6

Iowa

 3.2 2.7 -0.5

Wisconsin

 3.3 2.8 -0.5

Florida

 4.2 3.8 -0.4

Hawaii

 2.4 2.0 -0.4

Minnesota

 3.5 3.1 -0.4

Pennsylvania

 4.9 4.5 -0.4

Idaho

 3.2 2.9 -0.3

Indiana

 3.5 3.2 -0.3

Massachusetts

 3.8 3.5 -0.3

Nevada

 5.1 4.8 -0.3

Oklahoma

 4.3 4.0 -0.3

Tennessee

 3.8 3.5 -0.3

Texas

 4.4 4.1 -0.3

Utah

 3.3 3.0 -0.3

Vermont

 3.1 2.8 -0.3

Wyoming

 4.0 3.7 -0.3

Arizona

 4.9 4.7 -0.2

Connecticut

 4.7 4.5 -0.2

Kansas

 3.6 3.4 -0.2

New York

 4.7 4.5 -0.2

North Carolina

 4.5 4.3 -0.2

South Carolina

 4.2 4.0 -0.2

Missouri

 3.7 3.6 -0.1

Montana

 4.0 3.9 -0.1

Nebraska

 2.9 2.8 -0.1

New Jersey

 4.5 4.4 -0.1

Washington

 4.8 4.7 -0.1

New Hampshire

 2.7 2.7 0.0

Oregon

 4.1 4.1 0.0

Rhode Island

 4.4 4.4 0.0

South Dakota

 3.3 3.3 0.0

Alaska

 7.1 7.2 0.1

North Dakota

 2.5 2.6 0.1

Arkansas

 3.6 3.8 0.2

Colorado

 2.6 2.8 0.2

Maryland

 4.1 4.3 0.2

Michigan

 4.4 4.6 0.2

West Virginia

 5.0 5.4 0.4
Footnotes:

(p) Preliminary.

Among the 11 states with unemployment rate decreases over the year, the largest decline occurred in New Mexico (–1.1 percentage points), followed closely by Kentucky (–1.0 point).

Hawaii had the lowest unemployment rate in May (2.0 percent), while Alaska had the highest rate (7.2 percent). Thirteen states had unemployment rates that were lower than the U.S. figure of 3.8 percent, 17 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 20 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see “State Employment and Unemployment — May 2018.” For more charts and tables related to state employment and unemployment, see the state chart package.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rates declined over the year in 11 states and were unchanged in 39 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/unemployment-rates-declined-over-the-year-in-11-states-and-were-unchanged-in-39.htm (visited April 28, 2024).

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