July 20, 2020
For the month of June, jobless rates were lower in 42 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 5 states, and unchanged in 3 states based on a report by the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS). Forty-nine states and the District had jobless rate increases from last year, but one was unchanged. There was a decrease in the national unemployment rate to 11.1% over the month but was 7.4% higher than in June 2019.
In addition, “nonfarm payroll employment increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in June 2020. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in all 50 states and the District,” as stated by the BLS.
Unemployment rates
Notably, Massachusetts exhibited the highest jobless rate in June, 17.4%, followed New Jersey, 16.6%, and New York, 15.7%. Kentucky recorded the lowest unemployment rate of 4.3% in June. In total, 30 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 11.1%, while 10 states had higher rates. Approximately 10 states had rates that were not noticeably different from that of the nation.
For June, Nevada and Hawaii had the largest over-the-month unemployment rate decreases by 10.3 percentage points and 9.6 points, respectively. Rates decreased over the month by at least 2.0 percentage points in an additional 27 states. Nebraska experienced the largest over the month unemployment rate increases by +1.4 percentage points.
Furthermore, the largest jobless rate increase from June 2019 was observed in Massachusetts (+14.5 percentage points) and New Jersey (+13.3 points). However, 6 states experienced increases of 10.0 points or more. Moreover, the smallest jobless rate increases over the year were experienced in Utah (+2.5 percentage points) and Idaho (+2.7 points). Kentucky was the only state with an unchanged unemployment rate relative to June 2019.
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
In June 2020, nonfarm payroll employment rose in all 50 states. The largest increases in employment occurred in California (+558,200), New York (+301,600), and Florida (+296,000). The largest percentage increases were recorded in Nevada (+8.5%), Michigan (+8.1%), and Kentucky (+6.6%).
Moreover, according to BLS, “all 50 states and the District of Columbia had over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment in June. The largest job declines occurred in California (-1,740,600), New York (-1,496,900), and Texas (-696,200). The smallest declines occurred in Wyoming (-22,200), Idaho (-22,900), and Montana (-23,200). The largest percentage declines occurred in Hawaii (-16.0%), New York (-15.3%), and Massachusetts (-14.4%). The smallest percentage declines occurred in Utah (-2.7%), Idaho (-3.0%), and Arizona (-3.3%).”
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