The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each US region as of March 2020, the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. All four regions saw their unemployment rate rise both over the past month and over the past year.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Midwest, and the region with the highest, the West, is 0.84 percentage points (up from 0.40 last month and up 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 West has 1.20 times the unemployment rate that the Midwest does (up from 1.12 last month and up from 1.14 last year).
- Zero regions saw no change in their rate from the previous month, zero regions saw an improvement, and four regions saw a deterioration.
- Zero regions saw no change in their rate from last year, zero regions saw an improvement, and four regions saw a deterioration.
Caveats
- Data is from March 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 Northeast had the smallest monthly deterioration raising its rate 0.57 percentage points. The West had the largest deterioration raising its rate 1.25 percentage points. Year over year, the Midwest saw the smallest deterioration raising its rate 0.42 percentage points. The West saw the largest deterioration raising its rate 0.86 percentage points.
In relative terms, the Northeast had the smallest monthly impairment raising its rate 15.32%. The West had the largest impairment raising its rate 33.69%. Year over year, the Midwest saw the smallest impairment with a 11.35% rise in its rate. The West saw the largest impairment with a 20.98% rise in its rate.
The West has an unemployment rate higher than 37 out of 50 states. The Midwest has an unemployment rate that is lower than just under half of the states in the country besting 24 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 5.5% in Ohio. The South has the greatest range with a low of 2.6% in South Carolina to a high of 6.9% in Louisiana.
Sources
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2020. "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release." Accessed May 11, 2020. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.