Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in August. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia reported over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 16 states registered rate decreases, and 7 states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in August, up 0.3 percentage point from July and 3.5 points from August 2008.

In August, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 42 states and the District of Columbia and increased in 8 states. The largest over-the-month decrease in the level of employment occurred in Texas(-62,200),followed by Michigan (-42,900), Georgia (-35,000), and Ohio (-30,100). Hawaii and Michigan experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decreases in employment (-1.1 percent each), followed by Georgia and Mississippi (-0.9 percent each), North Dakota (-0.8 percent), and Alabama (-0.7 percent). The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in North Carolina (+7,000), Montana (+5,100), and West Virginia (+2,800). Montana (+1.2 percent) experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment, followed by West Virginia (+0.4 percent) and North Carolina (+0.2 percent). Over the year, nonfarm employment decreased in 49 states and increased in North Dakota and the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-year percentage decreases occurred in Michigan (-7.9 percent), Arizona (-7.4 percent), Nevada (-6.5 percent), and Georgia and Indiana (-6.0 percent each). The District of Columbia (+0.3 percent) and North Dakota (+0.2 percent) reported the only over-the-year percentage increases.

Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

In August, the West reported the highest regional jobless rate, 10.6 percent, followed by the Midwest, 10.0 percent. The Northeast recorded the lowest rate, 9.0 percent, and was the only region with a statistically significant over-the-month rate change (+0.3 percentage point). All four regions experienced significant unemployment rate increases from August 2008, the largest of which was in the West (+4.1 percentage points).

Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific and East North Central had the highest unemployment rates in August, 11.6 and 11.1 percent, respectively. The Pacific rate was the highest in its series. (All region, division, and state series begin in 1976.) The divisions registering the lowest jobless rates were the West North Central, 7.5 percent, and West South Central, 7.8 percent. The Middle Atlantic and Pacific were the only divisions to experience statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate changes (+0.4 and +0.3 percentage point, respectively). All nine divisions had significant over-the-year rate increases, with the largest change occurring in the Pacific (+4.5 percentage points). Two other divisions also experienced increases of 4.0 percentage points or more - the East North Central and East South Central (+4.2 percentage points each).

State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent in August. Michigan continued to have the highest unemployment rate among the states, 15.2 percent. Nevada recorded the next highest rate, 13.2 percent, followed by Rhode Island, 12.8 percent, and California and Oregon, 12.2 percent each. The rates in California, Nevada, and Rhode Island set new series highs. North Dakota again registered the lowest jobless rate, 4.3 percent in August, followed by South Dakota, 4.9 percent, and Nebraska, 5.0 percent. In total, 27 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.7 percent, 11 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 12 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Six states reported statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate increases in August. New Mexico experienced the largest of these (+0.5 percentage point), followed by New Jersey, New York, and Oregon (+0.4 point each) and California and Iowa (+0.3 point each). The District of Columbia also recorded a significant rate increase (+0.5 percentage point). Four states had measurable rate decreases over the month - Indiana (-0.7 percentage point), Colorado (-0.5 point), and Kansas and Virginia (-0.4 point each). The remaining 40 states registered August rates that were not measurably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.

In August, Michigan reported the largest unemployment rate increase over the year (+6.6 percentage points). Three other states had rate changes of more than 5.0 percentage points: Nevada (+6.2 points), Oregon (+5.7 points), and Alabama (+5.2 points). All states and the District of Columbia recorded statistically significant increases in their jobless rates from August 2008, with the smallest increase occurring in North Dakota (+1.0 percentage point).

Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Between July and August 2009, 16 states experienced statistically significant changes in employment. Fifteen states recorded statistically significant over-the-month decreases led by Texas (-62,200), Michigan (-42,900), Georgia (-35,000), and Ohio (-30,100). The only statistically significant increase occurred in Montana (+5,100).

Over the year, 45 states experienced statistically significant changes in employment, all of which were decreases. The largest statistically significant job losses occurred in California (-741,000), Florida (-372,700), Michigan (-329,900), Illinois (-306,100), Texas (-296,300), Ohio (-272,000), Georgia (-244,400), and North Carolina (-214,000). The smallest statistically significant decreases in employment occurred in Wyoming (-11,800) and Vermont (-12,000).