The annual average unemployment rate in New England, at 4.1 percent in 2016, was down 0.8 percentage point over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Nationally the unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage point, to 4.9 percent in 2016. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that New England’s unemployment rate was measurably lower than the national average in 2016. The jobless rate in New England has rarely exceeded the U.S. average in the 40 years this data has been collected. (See chart A.) 

 

New England is 1 of 9 geographic divisions in the United States. Jobless rates in the divisions ranged from a low of 3.9 percent in the West North Central to a high of 5.3 percent in the Pacific and East South Central in 2016. Three divisions, New England, West North Central, and Mountain recorded annual average unemployment rates that were significantly lower than that for the nation. Two divisions had rates significantly above the U.S. average ̶ the East South Central and the Pacific. (See table 2.)

Six of the nine geographic divisions had statistically significant over-the-year unemployment rate changes in 2016, all of which were declines. The largest of these occurred in New England (-0.8 percentage point), the Pacific and South Atlantic (-0.7 point each). Four of the six states that make up the New England division had jobless rates measurably different from the U.S. average in 2016. Maine (3.9 percent), Massachusetts (3.7 percent), Vermont (3.3 percent) and New Hampshire (2.8 percent) had rates significantly lower than that for the nation. New Hampshire had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. In contrast, Rhode Island (5.3 percent) and Connecticut (5.1 percent) had rates not measurably different from the U.S. average. (See table 1.)

In New England, over-the-year rate declines ranged from 1.2 percentage points in Massachusetts to 0.3 percentage point in Vermont.

Technical Note

Table 1. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population for the U.S., New England, and the New England states, 2015-16 annual averages (Numbers in thousands)

Area	Civilian labor force		Employed		Unemployed		Unemployment rate		Error range of rate,
	2015	2016	2015	2016	2015	2016	2015	2016	2016(1)
United States	157,130	159,187	148,834	151,436	8,296	7,751	5.3	4.9	4.8 - 4.9
New England	7,795	7,817	7,412	7,499	383	317	4.9	4.1	3.8 - 4.3
Connecticut	1,891	1,892	1,782	1,796	108	96	5.7	5.1	4.5 - 5.7
Maine	683	691	653	664	30	27	4.4	3.9	3.3 - 4.4
Massachusetts	3,580	3,589	3,406	3,456	174	133	4.9	3.7	3.3 - 4.1
New Hampshire	743	749	718	727	25	21	3.4	2.8	2.5 - 3.2
Rhode Island	554	552	520	523	33	29	6.0	5.3	4.7 - 6.0
Vermont	345	345	333	334	12	11	3.6	3.3	2.9 - 3.6
Footnotes: (1) Error ranges are shown at the 90-percent confidence level and are based on unrounded data.
Note: Data refer to place of residence. Unemployment rates are in percent and are based on unrounded levels. Data for subnational areas reflect revised population controls and model reestimation. As a result, they will not add to U.S. totals.

Table 2. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population by region and division, 2015-16 annual averages (Numbers in thousands)

Census region and division	Civilian labor force		Employed		Unemployed		Unemployment rate		Error range of rate,
	2015	2016	2015	2016	2015	2016	2015	2016	2016(1)
Northeast	28,342	28,397	26,850	27,041	1,493	1,357	5.3	4.8	4.6 - 4.9
New England	7,795	7,817	7,412	7,499	383	317	4.9	4.1	3.8 - 4.3
Middle Atlantic	20,548	20,581	19,438	19,541	1,110	1,039	5.4	5.1	4.8 - 5.3
South	57,271	58,145	54,250	55,306	3,021	2,839	5.3	4.9	4.8 - 5.0
South Atlantic	30,441	30,992	28,774	29,493	1,667	1,499	5.5	4.8	4.7 - 5.0
East South Central	8,459	8,576	7,970	8,121	489	455	5.8	5.3	5.0 - 6.0
West South Central	18,371	18,577	17,506	17,692	866	885	4.7	4.8	4.6 - 5.0
Midwest	34,460	34,714	32,790	33,093	1,671	1,621	4.8	4.7	4.5 - 4.8
East North Central	23,323	23,536	22,101	22,356	1,222	1,180	5.2	5.0	4.8 - 5.2
West North Central	11,138	11,178	10,688	10,737	449	441	4.0	3.9	3.7 - 4.2
West	36,879	37,486	34,772	35,574	2,108	1,912	5.7	5.1	4.9 - 5.3
Mountain	11,425	11,638	10,845	11,106	580	532	5.1	4.6	4.3 - 4.8
Pacific	25,454	25,848	23,926	24,467	1,528	1,380	6.0	5.3	5.1 - 5.5
Footnotes: (1) Error ranges are shown at the 90-percent confidence level and are based on unrounded data.
Note: Data for subnational areas reflect revised population controls and model reestimation. As a result, they will not add to U.S. totals. Unemployment rates are in percent and are based on unrounded levels. 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 Region 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 Division - 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 Mountain Division - Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and the Pacific Division - Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.