US Regional Unemployment Rates, November 2020

Jan 15, 2021
Unemployment Rate in US Regions

The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each US region as of November 2020, the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior.  The South was the only region to see a rise in its rate over the previous month.

Findings

  • The difference between the region with the lowest unemployment rate, the Midwest, and the region with the highest, the Northeast, is 2.12 percentage points (down from 2.33 last month and up from 0.39 last year).  The Midwest had the lowest rate last month and the South had the lowest rate last year.  The West had the highest rate last month and the Northeast had the highest rate last year.
  • The Northeast has 1.38 times the unemployment rate that the Midwest does (down from 1.41 last month and up from 1.12 last year).
  • Of the four regions, zero saw no change in the rate from the previous month, three saw an improvement, and one saw a deterioration.
  • Of the four regions, Zero saw no change in the rate from last year, zero saw an improvement, and four saw a deterioration.

Caveats

  • Data is from November 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 West had the best performance over the previous month dropping its rate 0.60 percentage points.  The South had the worst performance raising its rate 0.11 percentage points.  Year over year, the Midwest had the best performance raising its rate 1.99 percentage points.  The Northeast had the worst performance raising its rate 3.88 percentage points.

In relative terms, the West had the best performance over the previous month dropping its rate 7.47%.  The South had the worst performance raising its rate 1.74%.  Year over year, the Midwest had the best performance with a 56.37% rise in its rate.  The Northeast had the worst performance with a 103.19% rise in its rate.

The Northeast has an unemployment rate higher than 40 out of 50 states.  The Midwest has an unemployment rate that is lower than three-fifths of the states in the country besting 30 out of 50 states.

The Midwest has the smallest range in unemployment rates this month with a low of 3.1% in Nebraska to a high of 6.9% in Illinois and Michigan.  The Northeast has the greatest range with a low of 3.1% in Vermont to a high of 10.2% in New Jersey.

Sources

Bureau of Labor Statistics.  2021.  "State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release."  Accessed January 12, 2021.  https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.htm.

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