The New England unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.9 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that New England’s jobless rate declined from a year ago when it was 7.2 percent. The national jobless rate was little changed from July at 6.1 percent but was 1.1 percentage points lower than in August 2013. (See chart 1.)

New England is 1 of 9 geographic divisions nationwide. In August, the East South Central division had the highest jobless rate at 7.3 percent. The West North Central division again had the lowest unemployment rate, 4.8 percent. New England was among eight divisions that had statistically significant rate declines from a year earlier.

 

In August, 3 of the 6 New England states had jobless rates that were significantly different from that of the United States. Vermont (4.1 percent) and New Hampshire (4.4 percent) had significantly lower unemployment rates and were among 17 states in the country to do so. In contrast, Rhode Island was among the eight states and the District of Columbia with unemployment rates measurably higher than the national average. Rhode Island, at 7.7 percent, had the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation. The 25 remaining states registered unemployment rates not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Vermont (+0.4 percentage point) and Massachusetts (+0.2 percentage point) were the only New England states to post statistically significant unemployment rate changes over the month. Nationwide, seven other states and the District of Columbia had significant rate increases from July while four states posted measurable decreases. The remaining 37 states reported unemployment rates that were not measurably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.

Over the year, five New England states recorded statistically significant unemployment rate decreases, with the declines ranging from 1.9 percentage points in Rhode Island to 0.9 point in New Hampshire. Across the country, 22 additional states reported statistically significant unemployment rate declines from August 2013. Vermont was among the 23 states and the District of Columbia with unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from a year ago.

Technical Note

This release presents civilian labor force and unemployment data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. Estimates for the U.S. are obtained directly from the CPS, which is a sample survey of approximately 60,000 households nationwide that is conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the Census Bureau. The LAUS program produces data for subnational areas, including the nine geographic divisions (New England, Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, East North Central, West North Central, Mountain, and Pacific) and the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The LAUS data for geographic divisions and states are model-based. The models for geographic divisions use inputs from the CPS only, while the models for the states and the District of Columbia use inputs from the CPS in conjunction with estimates of nonfarm payroll employment from the Current Employment Statistics survey and counts of unemployment insurance claimants from the state workforce agencies. Each month, not-seasonally-adjusted estimates for geographic divisions are controlled to the national totals from the CPS, and state estimates are then controlled to the estimates for their divisions. Data for all divisions, as well as the 50 states and the District of Columbia, are available in the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment release www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm#news issued monthly by BLS, while national statistics are highlighted in the Employment Situation www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm#news.

Labor force and unemployment data for prior years reflect adjustments made at the end of each year.  The adjusted estimates reflect updated population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, any revisions in the other data sources, and model re-estimation. In most years, historical data for the most recent five years (both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted) are revised near the beginning of each calendar year, prior to or coincident with the release of January estimates.

Model-based error measures for seasonally adjusted data and for over-the-month and over-the-year changes are available online at www.bls.gov/lau/lastderr.htm. BLS uses a 90-percent confidence level in determining whether changes in LAUS unemployment rates are statistically significant. The average magnitude of the current year over-the-month change in a state unemployment rate that is required for statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level is just over 0.2 percentage point; the average amount of the current over-the-year change in a state rate for significance is about 0.9 point. More details can be found on the website. Measures of nonsampling error are not available.

This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.  Voice phone: (202) 691-5200, Federal Relay Services: (800)-877-8339.

 

Table 1. Labor force status for the U.S., New England, and New England states, seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area	Aug 2013	Sept 2013	Oct 2013	Nov 2013	Dec 2013	Jan 2014	Feb 2014	Mar 2014	Apr 2014	May 2014	June 2014	July 2014	Aug 2014
United States (1)
Civilian labor force	155,435	155,473	154,625	155,284	154,937	(2) 155,460	155,724	156,227	155,421	155,613	155,694	156,023	155,959
Employed	144,179	144,270	143,485	144,443	144,586	(2) 145,224	145,266	145,742	145,669	145,814	146,221	146,352	146,368
Unemployed	11,256	11,203	11,140	10,841	10,351	10,236	10,459	10,486	9,753	9,799	9,474	9,671	9,591
Unemployment rate	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.0	6.7	6.6	6.7	6.7	6.3	6.3	6.1	6.2	6.1
New England
Civilian labor force	7,694.6	7,689.0	7,684.8	7,681.5	7,680.3	7,694.0	7,716.8	7,741.2	7,743.4	7,749.6	7,744.3	7,740.4	7,733.3
Employed	7,141.6	7,140.3	7,142.0	7,145.0	7,149.8	7,182.0	7,220.8	7,254.0	7,273.6	7,290.7	7,300.8	7,294.1	7,275.6
Unemployed	553.1	548.7	542.8	536.5	530.5	512.0	496.0	487.2	469.8	458.9	443.5	446.3	457.7
Unemployment rate	7.2	7.1	7.1	7.0	6.9	6.7	6.4	6.3	6.1	5.9	5.7	5.8	5.9
Connecticut
Civilian labor force	1,856.8	1,853.7	1,850.6	1,847.9	1,845.8	1,852.2	1,857.9	1,864.8	1,868.6	1,877.6	1,878.5	1,872.1	(P) 1,870.4
Employed	1,711.3	1,710.1	1,709.5	1,709.2	1,709.4	1,719.3	1,727.7	1,734.3	1,740.1	1,747.9	1,753.0	1,749.3	(P) 1,747.0
Unemployed	145.5	143.5	141.1	138.7	136.4	132.9	130.2	130.5	128.5	129.7	125.5	122.8	(P) 123.5
Unemployment rate	7.8	7.7	7.6	7.5	7.4	7.2	7.0	7.0	6.9	6.9	6.7	6.6	(P) 6.6
Maine
Civilian labor force	709.6	709.2	708.9	708.6	708.4	709.8	711.5	713.5	712.7	710.9	709.2	706.8	(P) 705.0
Employed	662.4	662.6	662.8	663.0	663.3	665.6	668.4	671.7	672.2	670.3	669.9	668.1	(P) 665.2
Unemployed	47.2	46.7	46.1	45.6	45.1	44.1	43.0	41.8	40.5	40.6	39.3	38.7	(P) 39.8
Unemployment rate	6.7	6.6	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.2	6.1	5.9	5.7	5.7	5.5	5.5	(P) 5.6
Massachusetts
Civilian labor force	3,486.0	3,484.8	3,484.0	3,483.3	3,483.1	3,485.5	3,494.7	3,506.9	3,505.6	3,502.0	3,501.7	3,511.2	(P) 3,517.0
Employed	3,234.0	3,233.6	3,234.2	3,235.2	3,236.8	3,248.3	3,266.6	3,285.9	3,295.7	3,304.5	3,310.4	3,315.5	(P) 3,313.2
Unemployed	252.1	251.2	249.8	248.1	246.3	237.2	228.1	221.0	210.0	197.5	191.3	195.7	(P) 203.8
Unemployment rate	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.1	7.1	6.8	6.5	6.3	6.0	5.6	5.5	5.6	(P) 5.8
New Hampshire
Civilian labor force	741.2	741.0	741.0	741.0	741.1	742.8	744.6	746.3	747.3	747.4	745.9	743.8	(P) 740.4
Employed	702.2	702.1	702.3	702.6	703.0	706.2	709.4	712.4	714.6	714.6	713.5	711.0	(P) 707.6
Unemployed	39.0	38.9	38.7	38.5	38.2	36.6	35.2	33.9	32.7	32.8	32.5	32.8	(P) 32.7
Unemployment rate	5.3	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	4.9	4.7	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.4	(P) 4.4
Rhode Island
Civilian labor force	554.4	553.2	552.0	551.0	550.1	550.3	552.9	554.4	555.8	557.8	559.6	558.5	(P) 556.5
Employed	501.3	500.5	499.9	499.4	499.1	499.7	503.3	505.9	509.5	512.2	515.4	515.4	(P) 513.9
Unemployed	53.1	52.7	52.1	51.6	51.1	50.5	49.6	48.5	46.2	45.6	44.2	43.1	(P) 42.6
Unemployment rate	9.6	9.5	9.4	9.4	9.3	9.2	9.0	8.7	8.3	8.2	7.9	7.7	(P) 7.7
Vermont
Civilian labor force	350.9	350.6	350.4	350.3	350.2	350.5	350.9	351.1	351.0	351.1	350.9	351.0	(P) 350.2
Employed	335.0	334.9	335.0	335.1	335.4	336.6	337.9	339.0	339.5	339.6	338.9	338.0	(P) 335.8
Unemployed	15.9	15.7	15.5	15.2	14.8	13.9	12.9	12.1	11.5	11.5	12.0	13.1	(P) 14.4
Unemployment rate	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.2	4.0	3.7	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.7	(P) 4.1
Footnotes (1) Data for the U.S. are obtained directly from the national Current Population Survey (CPS) and are not preliminary. Seasonally adjusted CPS data have been revised as a result of routine seasonal updates processed at the end of each calendar year. (2) Data affected by changes in population controls. (P) Preliminary

Table 2. Civilian labor force and unemployment by census region and division, seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Census region and division	Civilian labor force				Unemployed
	Aug 2013	June 2014	July 2014	Aug 2014	Number				Percent of the labor force
					Aug 2013	June 2014	July 2014	Aug 2014	Aug 2013	June 2014	July 2014	Aug 2014
Northeast	28,311.9	28,257.6	28,207.4	28,150.3	2,143.1	1,727.5	1,734.6	1,746.9	7.6	6.1	6.1	6.2
New England	7,694.6	7,744.3	7,740.4	7,733.3	553.1	443.5	446.3	457.7	7.2	5.7	5.8	5.9
Middle Atlantic	20,617.3	20,513.3	20,467.0	20,417.0	1,590.0	1,284.0	1,288.3	1,289.2	7.7	6.3	6.3	6.3
South	56,638.4	57,013.4	56,899.1	56,806.0	3,982.1	3,402.1	3,478.5	3,567.8	7.0	6.0	6.1	6.3
South Atlantic	30,027.5	30,319.2	30,258.0	30,212.7	2,156.2	1,878.4	1,921.4	1,987.0	7.2	6.2	6.3	6.6
East South Central	8,535.8	8,500.2	8,463.8	8,411.1	676.1	599.1	615.8	611.4	7.9	7.0	7.3	7.3
West South Central	18,075.1	18,194.0	18,177.3	18,182.1	1,149.8	924.6	941.3	969.4	6.4	5.1	5.2	5.3
Midwest	34,290.5	34,417.1	34,377.7	34,339.8	2,479.6	2,045.5	2,043.8	1,997.6	7.2	5.9	5.9	5.8
East North Central	23,275.4	23,299.6	23,277.3	23,249.8	1,904.1	1,499.8	1,499.4	1,466.1	8.2	6.4	6.4	6.3
West North Central	11,015.2	11,117.5	11,100.4	11,090.0	575.5	545.7	544.3	531.5	5.2	4.9	4.9	4.8
West	36,058.3	36,255.9	36,204.2	36,213.2	2,885.4	2,419.5	2,404.4	2,401.2	8.0	6.7	6.6	6.6
Mountain	11,073.6	11,203.8	11,192.0	11,165.1	780.7	653.8	652.4	646.2	7.1	5.8	5.8	5.8
Pacific	24,984.6	25,052.1	25,012.1	25,048.1	2,104.7	1,765.6	1,752.0	1,755.0	8.4	7.0	7.0	7.0
Note: Census region estimates are derived by summing the Census division model-based estimates. Data refer to place of residence. Regions are defined as the four Census regions, comprised as follows: Northeast Region includes the New England Division - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; and the Middle Atlantic Division - New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. South Rgion includes the South Atlantic Division - Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central Division - Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; and West South Central Division - Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Midwest Region includes the East North Central - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; and the West North Central Division - Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. West Region includes the Moutain Division - Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. Estimates for the current year are subject to revision early in the following calendar year.