October 18, 2019

The Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that, “Unemployment rates were lower in September in 7 states, higher in 4 states, and stable in 39 states and the District of Columbia.” Last year, there were seven states with jobless rate decreases, 2 states had increases and the District had little or no change. Whereas, there was 0.2% decrease reported in the national unemployment rate from August to 3.% but was little changed since September 2018.

In addition, “Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 3 states in September 2019, decreased in 2, and was essentially unchanged in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, 27 states added nonfarm payroll jobs and 23 states and the District were essentially unchanged.,” as stated by the BLS.

Unemployment rates

Notably, Vermont recorded the lowest unemployment rate in September, 2.2%. On the other hand,  Alaska had the highest jobless rate, 6.2%. In total, 15 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 3.5%, 14 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 21 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

For the period of September, South Carolina had the largest over-the-month unemployment rate decline of 0.3%, while Mississippi had the largest rate increase 0.2%. Furthermore, Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia had jobless rates that were not notably different from those of a month earlier.

Alabama, Colorado, and New Jersey experienced the highest over-the-year unemployment rate decreases (-0.8 percentage point each). The only rate increases from September 2018 was observed in Mississippi (+0.7 percentage point) and Nebraska (+0.4 point).

Nonfarm Payroll Employment

In September 2019, Nonfarm payroll employment rose in three states. The employment increases occurred in Kentucky (+8,200, or +0.4%), Idaho (+4,600, or +0.6%), and Hawaii (+4,500, or +0.7%). However, employment fell in September in Virginia (-14,700, or -0.4%) and New Hampshire (-3,500, or -0.5%).

Moreover, according to BLS, “twenty-seven states had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment in September. The largest job gains occurred in California (+320,000), Texas (+300,000), and Florida (+224,700). The largest percentage gains occurred in Nevada (+3.2%), Idaho (+3.1%), and Utah (+3.0%).”

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