The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU and US region as of May 2020 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior. All EU regions have lower rates than US regions but US regions are seeing big improvements in their rates.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Eastern EU, and the region with the highest, the Western US, is 10.03 percentage points (down from 11.55 last month and up from 8.39 last year). The Western US had the highest rate last month while the Southern EU had the highest rate last year. The Eastern EU had the lowest rate last month while the Southern US had the lowest rate last year.
- The Western US has 3.27 times the unemployment rate that the Eastern EU does. The ratio of highest rate to lowest rate was down from 3.78 last month and down from 3.38 last year.
- Zero regions (0 US, 0 EU) had the same rate as the previous month, five regions (4 US, 1 EU) saw an improvement in their rate from the previous month, and three (0 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 May 2020 except for Estonia and Hungary which are from April 2020 and Greece and the United Kingdom which are 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 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 Midwestern US had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 2.16 percentage points. The Northern EU had the largest increase over the previous month raising its rate 0.34 percentage points. Year over year, the Southern EU saw the greatest improvement dropping its rate 1.11 percentage points. The Western US saw the largest increase raising its rate 10.45 percentage points.
In relative terms, the Midwestern US had the biggest monthly improvement dropping its rate 13.94%. The Eastern EU had the greatest deterioration over the previous month raising its rate 6.27%. Year over year, the Southern EU saw the greatest improvement with a 9.32% drop in its rate. The Northeastern US saw the greatest deterioration with a 273.02% raise in its rate.
The Northern EU has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 5.0% in Denmark to a high of 8.5% in Sweden. The Western US has the greatest range with a low of 8.5% in Utah to a high of 25.3% in Nevada.
The Eastern EU states had the lowest median unemployment rate at 5.20%. The Western EU states had the lowest mean unemployment rate at 5.44%. On the other hand, the Northeastern US states had the highest median unemployment rate at 14.48% and the Northeastern US states had the highest mean unemployment rate at 13.38%. 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 5.20% and the second lowest mean rate at 5.87% (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 July 6, 2020. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.
Eurostat. 2020. "Unemployment by Sex and Age - Monthly Average." Accessed July 7, 2020. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-055624_QID_-4B77E5C8_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-055624SEX,T;DS-055624UNIT,PC_ACT;DS-055624S_ADJ,SA;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.