The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU and US region as of February 2020 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. US regions continue to have considerably lower unemployment rates than EU regions with the Eastern EU being the only EU region that tops US regions.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Southern US, and the region with the highest, the Southern EU, is 8.08 percentage points (down from 8.17 last month and down from 8.52 last year). The Southern EU had the highest rate both last month and last year. The Southern US had the lowest rate both last month and last year.
- The Southern EU has 3.43 times the unemployment rate that the Southern US does. The ratio of highest rate to lowest rate was down from 3.45 last month and up from 3.34 last year.
- All US regions and the Eastern and Western EU each has an unemployment rate that is lower than every state in the Northern EU.
- The Southern EU has an unemployment rate that is higher than every state in every other region.
- Two regions (1 US, 1 EU) had the same rate as the previous month, five regions (3 US, 2 EU) saw an improvement in their rate from the previous month, and one (0 US, 1 EU) saw a deterioration.
- Zero regions had the same rate as last year, seven regions (4 US, 3 EU) saw an improvement in their rate from last year, and one (0 US, 1 EU) saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from February 2020 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from January 2020 and Greece and the United Kingdom which are from December 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 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 Southern EU had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 0.11 percentage points. The Northern EU had the largest increase over the previous month raising its rate 0.24 percentage points. Year over year, the Southern EU saw the greatest improvement dropping its rate 0.76 percentage points. The Northern EU saw the largest increase raising its rate 0.35 percentage points.
In relative terms, the Midwestern US had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 1.71%. The Northern EU had the greatest deterioration over the previous month raising its rate 3.76%. Year over year, the Western US saw the greatest improvement with a 10.39% drop in its rate. The Northern EU saw the greatest deterioration with a 5.58% raise in its rate.
The Midwestern US 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 Southern EU has the greatest range with a low of 3.3% in Malta to a high of 16.3% in Greece.
The Midwestern US states had the lowest median unemployment rate at 3.20%. The Midwestern US states also had the lowest mean unemployment rate at 3.22%. On the other hand, the Southern EU states had the highest median and mean unemployment rates at 8.10% and 9.20% respectively. Although the Southern US as a whole had the lowest rate, the relatively large range in rates in the region gave its states the third smallest median rate at 3.45% and the third lowest mean rate at 3.61% (bested by the Northeastern US in both metrics). The four US regions held the four lowest median and mean unemployment rates.
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.
Eurostat. 2020. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed April 13, 2020. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_-2827241C_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-055624S_ADJ,SA;DS-055624UNIT,PC_ACT;DS-055624SEX,T;DS-055624AGE,TOTAL;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.