The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each US region as of February 2020, the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. The West was the only region not to see an improvement in its rate over the past month.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the South, and the region with the highest, the Northeast, is 0.40 percentage points (down from 0.41 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).
- One region saw no change in its rate from the previous month, three 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 February 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 had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 0.06 percentage points. The West was the only region not to improve its rate over the previous month changing its rate 0.00 percentage points. Year over year, the West saw the greatest improvement dropping its rate 0.43 percentage points. The Northeast saw the smallest improvement dropping its rate 0.03 percentage points.
In relative terms, the Midwest had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 1.71%. The West saw no difference over the previous month changing its rate 0.00%. Year over year, the West saw the greatest improvement with a 10.39% drop in its rate. The Northeast saw the smallest improvement with a 0.80% drop in its rate.
The Northeast has an unemployment rate higher than 36 out of 50 states. The South has an unemployment rate that is lower than more than half of the states in the country besting 27 out of 50 states.
The Midwest has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 2.2% 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 5.8% in Alaska.
Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2020. "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release." Accessed April 14, 2020. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.