EU and US Regional Unemployment Rates, April 2020

Jun 15, 2020
Unemployment Rate in EU and US Regions

The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU and US region as of April 2020 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior.  US regions no longer have the lower unemployment rates as all EU regions have lower rates than US regions.

Findings

  • The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Eastern EU, and the regions with the highest, the Midwestern and the Western US, is 10.60 percentage points (up from 7.06 last month and up from 8.47 last year).  The Southern EU had the highest rate both last month and last year.  The Eastern EU had the lowest rate last month while the Southern US had the lowest rate last year.
  • The Midwestern and Western US have 3.49 times the unemployment rate that the Eastern EU does.  The ratio of highest rate to lowest rate was up from 2.84 last month and up from 3.38 last year.
  • Zero regions (0 US, 0 EU) had the same rate as the previous month, one region (0 US, 1 EU) saw an improvement in its rate from the previous month, and seven (4 US, 3 EU) saw a deterioration.
  • Zero regions (0 US, 0 EU) had the same rate as last year, one region (0 US, 1 EU) saw an improvement in its rate from last year, and seven (4 US, 3 EU) saw a deterioration.

Caveats

  • Data is from April 2020 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from March 2020 and Greece and the United Kingdom which are 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 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 0.41 percentage points.  The Midwestern US had the largest increase over the previous month raising its rate 10.88 percentage points.  Year over year, the Southern EU saw the greatest improvement dropping its rate 1.54 percentage points.  The Midwestern US saw the largest increase raising its rate 11.18 percentage points.

In relative terms, the Southern EU had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 3.76%.  The Midwestern US had the greatest deterioration over the previous month raising its rate 274.06%.  Year over year, the Southern EU saw the greatest improvement with a 12.80% drop in its rate.  The Midwestern US saw the greatest deterioration with a 304.63% raise in its rate.

The Northern EU has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 4.6% in Denmark to a high of 7.9% in Sweden.  The Western US has the greatest range with a low of 9.2% in Wyoming to a high of 28.2% in Nevada.

The Eastern EU states had the lowest median unemployment rate at 4.80%.  The Western EU states had the lowest mean unemployment rate at 5.34%.  On the other hand, the Northeastern US states had the highest median unemployment rate at 15.10% and the Western US states had the highest mean unemployment rate at 14.26%.  Although the Eastern EU as a whole had the lowest rate, the relatively large range in rates in the region gave its states the lowest median rate at 4.80% and the second lowest mean rate at 5.60% (bested by the Western EU in the mean rate).  The four US regions held the four highest median and mean unemployment rates.

Sources

Bureau of Labor Statistics.  2020.  "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release."  Accessed June 8, 2020.  https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.

Eurostat.  2020.  "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average."  Accessed June 9, 2020.  https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_1D6465A3_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.