The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU and US region as of May 2021 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. The Midwestern US was the only region to see a rise in the unemployment rate over the previous month.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Midwestern US, and the region with the highest, the Southern EU, is 7.72 percentage points (down from 7.94 last month and down from 9.42 last year). The Southern EU had the highest rate last month and the Northeastern US had the highest rate last year. The Midwestern US had the lowest rate last month and the Eastern EU had the lowest rate last year.
- The Southern EU has 2.62 times the unemployment rate that the Midwestern US does. The ratio of highest rate to lowest rate was down from 2.68 last month and down from 3.05 last year.
- Of the eight regions, 0 (0 US, 0 EU) had the same rate as the previous month, 7 (3 US, 4 EU) saw an improvement in the rate from the previous month, and 1 (1 US, 0 EU) saw a deterioration.
- Of the eight regions, 0 (0 US, 0 EU) had the same rate as last year, 4 (4 US, 0 EU) saw an improvement in the rate from last year, and 4 (0 US, 4 EU) saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from May 2021 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from April 2021, and Greece and the United Kingdom which are from March 2021 (previous month and year rates also reflect the respective one, two, and three month delay).
- Data may conflict with previous month's report as statistical agencies make updates to the rates over the course of the month.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
- The Eastern EU consists of Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- The Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
- The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Western EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
Details
In absolute terms, the Northeastern US had the best performance over the previous month dropping the rate 0.30 percentage points. The Midwestern US had the worst performance over the previous month raising the rate 0.05 percentage points. Year over year, the Midwestern US had the best performance dropping the rate 8.50 percentage points. The Southern EU had the worst performance raising the rate 0.96 percentage points.
In relative terms, the Northeastern US had the best performance over the previous month dropping the rate 4.20%. The Midwestern US had the worst performance over the previous month raising the rate 1.06%. Year over year, the Midwestern US had the best performance with a 64.01% drop in the rate. The Southern EU had the worst performance with a 8.32% rise in the rate.
The Northern EU has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 5.6% in Denmark to a high of 9.1% in Sweden. The Southern EU has the greatest range with a low of 3.7% in Malta to a high of 16.4% in Greece.
The Midwestern US states had the lowest median unemployment rate at 4.00%. The Midwestern US states had the lowest mean unemployment rate at 4.17%. On the other hand, the Southern EU states had the highest median unemployment rate at 10.20% and the Southern EU states had the highest mean unemployment rate at 10.50%.
Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2021. "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release." Accessed July 12, 2021. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.
Eurostat. 2021. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed July 13, 2021. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_4D4249A1_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;S_ADJ,L,Z,0;AGE,L,Z,1;UNIT,L,Z,2;SEX,L,Z,3;INDICATORS,C,Z,4;&zSelection=DS-055624AGE,TOTAL;DS-055624S_ADJ,SA;DS-055624UNIT,PC_ACT;DS-055624SEX,T;DS-055624INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=UNIT_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=AGE_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=SEX_1_2_-1_2&rankName5=S-ADJ_1_2_-1_2&rankName6=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName7=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.
Office for National Statistics. 2021. "X01: Labour Force Survey Single-Month Estimates." Accessed July 13, 2021. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourforcesurveysinglemonthestimatesx01.