The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each US region as of January 2020, the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. All regions saw an improvement in their rate over the past month and year.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the South, and the region with the highest, the Northeast, is 0.41 percentage points (up from 0.39 last month and down from 0.50 last year). The South had the lowest rate both last month and last year. The Northeast had the highest rate last month while the West had the highest rate last year.
- The Northeast has 1.12 times the unemployment rate that the South does (same as 1.12 last month and down from 1.14 last year).
- Zero regions saw no change in their rate from the previous month, four regions saw an improvement, and zero regions saw a deterioration.
- Zero regions saw no change in their rate from last year, four regions saw an improvement, and zero regions saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from January 2020.
- 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 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 Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- 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 Midwest, the South, and the West had the biggest monthly improvement each dropping their rate 0.03 percentage points. The Northeast had the smallest decrease over the previous month dropping its rate 0.01 percentage points. Year over year, the West saw the greatest improvement dropping its rate 0.46 percentage points. The Northeast saw the smallest improvement dropping its rate 0.02 percentage points.
In relative terms, the South had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 0.89%. The Northeast had the smallest improvement over the previous month dropping its rate 0.27%. Year over year, the West saw the greatest improvement with a 11.03% drop in its rate. The Northeast saw the smallest improvement with a 0.53% drop in its rate.
The Northeast has an unemployment rate higher than 35 out of 50 states. The South has an unemployment rate that is lower than nearly half of the states in the country besting 23 out of 50 states.
The Midwest has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 2.3% in North Dakota to a high of 4.1% in Ohio. The West has the greatest range with a low of 2.5% in Colorado and Utah to a high of 6.0% in Alaska.
Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2020. "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release." Accessed March 17, 2020. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.