The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each US region as of May 2019, the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. The Western US was the only region to not see an improvement in its rate from last year.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the South, and the region with the highest, the West, is 0.53 percentage points (down from 0.55 last month and up from 0.42 last year). The West and the South had the highest and lowest rates last month respectively while the West had the highest rate last year and the Midwest had the lowest.
- The West has 1.15 times the unemployment rate that the South does (same as 1.15 last month and up from 1.11 last year).
- One region held its rate steady from the previous month while three saw an improvement.
- Three regions saw an improvement in their rate from last year while one saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from May 2019.
- 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 Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- 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 Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
Details
In absolute terms, the West had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 0.05 percentage points from 4.20% to 4.15%. The Midwest had the smallest improvement over the previous month leaving its rate unchanged at a rate of 3.69%. Year over year, the Northeast saw the greatest improvement dropping its rate 0.35 percentage points from 4.03% to 3.68%. The West saw the greatest deterioration raising its rate 0.02 percentage points from 4.13% to 4.15%.
In relative terms, the West had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 1.19%. The Midwest had the smallest improvement over the previous month keeping its rate steady with a change of 0.00%. Year over year, the Northeast saw the greatest improvement with a 8.68% drop in its rate. The West saw the greatest deterioration with a 0.48% rise in its rate.
The West has an unemployment rate higher than all Northeastern states and holds a rate that is higher than 39 out of 50 states. The South has an unemployment rate that is lower than just under half the states in the country besting 22 out of 50 states.
The Northeast has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 2.1% in Vermont to a high of 4.0% in New York. The West has the greatest range with a low of 2.8% in Hawaii and Idaho to a high of 6.4% in Alaska.
Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2019. "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release." Accessed July 10, 2019. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.