Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia over the month and decreased in 11 states. The largest employment gains occurred in California (+27,600), Texas (+14,300), Arizona (+12,200), Florida (+10,400), Michigan (+9,300), and Nevada (+8,000). Wyoming experienced the largest percentage increase in employment (+0.7 percent), followed by Nevada (+0.6 percent), Alaska, Arizona, and Utah (+0.5 percent each), and Nebraska and Oregon (+0.4 percent each). The largest employment decreases
were reported in Ohio (-9,700), Indiana (-7,400), New Jersey (-6,200),Tennessee (-4,000), Wisconsin (-2,500), and Oklahoma (-1,800). The largest over-the-month percentage losses in employment occurred in Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, and Vermont (-0.2 percent each), and Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin (-0.1 percent each). Over the year, non-farm employment increased in 47 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 3 states (Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio). The largest over-the-year percentage gains in employment were reported in Utah (+4.3 percent), Arizona and Louisiana (+4.1 percent each), Wyoming (+4.0 percent), Idaho (+3.5 per-cent), and Nevada (+3.2 percent).
Regional Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
The South again posted the lowest jobless rate among the regions, 4.2 per-cent in February, followed closely by the Northeast at 4.3 percent, and West at 4.4 percent. The rate in the West was a series low for that region. (All region, division, and state series begin in 1976.) The Midwest continued to report the highest unemployment rate in February, 4.9 percent. No region recorded a statistically significant change in its jobless rate from January. In contrast, three of the four regions registered significant unemployment rate changes from a year earlier--the Northeast and South (-0.4 percentage point each) and the West (-0.3 point).
Among the nine geographic divisions, the Mountain again posted the lowest unemployment rate in February, 3.5 percent, followed by the South Atlantic at 3.9 percent. The Mountain division recorded the lowest jobless rate in its series. The East North Central continued to report the highest jobless rate, 5.2 percent. The Mountain division had the only statistically significant over-the-month jobless rate change (-0.3 percentage point). Four of the nine divisions registered significant unemployment rate changes from a year earlier, all of which were declines: the Middle Atlantic, Mountain, and West South Central (-0.6 percentage point each) and the East South Central (-0.4 point).
State Unemployment (Seasonally Adjusted)
In February, Hawaii, Utah, and Wyoming recorded the lowest unemployment rates, 2.3 percent each. Four additional states registered jobless rates below 3.0 percent. Four states, all in the Mountain division, posted the lowest jobless rates in their series: Idaho, 2.8 percent; Montana, 2.5 percent; New Mexico, 3.5 percent; and Utah, 2.3 percent. Mississippi and Michigan reported the highest jobless rates in February, 6.7 and 6.6 percent, respectively, followed by Alaska and South Carolina at 6.1 percent each. Overall, 18 states recorded unemployment rates that were significantly below the U.S. rate of 4.5 percent, 6 states and the District of Columbia reported measurably higher rates, and 26 states had rates that were statistically little different from that of the nation.
Pennsylvania registered the largest over-the-month unemployment rate decline in February (-0.7 percentage point). The only other states with
statistically significant decreases were Indiana (-0.4 percentage point)and Ohio and Utah (-0.3 point each). The only significant over-the-month increases were reported in Missouri (+0.4 percentage point) and Kansas (+0.3 point). The remaining 44 states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from those of a month earlier, even though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as those with statistically significant changes.
New Mexico experienced the largest over-the-year jobless rate decline in February (-1.1 percentage points), followed by Montana (-1.0 point), Utah (-0.9 point), and Alaska, Idaho, and Rhode Island (-0.8 point each). Nine additional states also reported decreases that were statistically significant. Massachusetts and Minnesota recorded the largest jobless rate increases from a year earlier (+0.5 and +0.4 percentage point, respectively). Nevada was the only other state to register a significant rate increase (+0.2 percentage point). Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different from those of February 2006.
Nonfarm Payroll Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
Between January and February, seven states reported statistically significant changes in employment, all of which were increases. The largest gains were in California (+27,600), Arizona (+12,200), Nevada (+8,000), Oregon (+7,000), and Utah (+6,600).
Over the year, 29 states and the District of Columbia posted statistically significant changes in employment. All had gains in employment with the exception of Michigan (-55,300). The largest employment gains occurred in Texas (+231,200), California (+230,700), Florida (+134,700), and Arizona (+107,100). Four states and the District of Columbia recorded statistically significant increases in employment that were less than 15,000: Hawaii (+13,000), Wyoming (+11,000), Montana (+8,600), the District of Columbia (+7,500), and North Dakota (+7,300).
