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Sixteen states had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases over the past year

June 23, 2016

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases from May 2015 to May 2016. The largest declines occurred in Tennessee (–1.7 percentage points) and Arkansas (–1.6 points). The only significant over-the-year unemployment rate increases occurred in Wyoming (+1.4 percentage points) and North Dakota (+0.4 percentage point).

State unemployment rates, seasonally adjusted, May 2016

5.7 and higher

5.1 to 5.6

4.3 to 5.0

3.8 to 4.2

3.7 and lower

Hover over a state to see data.
Hover over legend items to see states in a category.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

View Chart Data

State unemployment rates, seasonally adjusted, May 2016
State	May 2015 rate	May 2016 rate^(p)	Over-the-year change^(p)
Alabama	6.1%	6.1%	0.0
Alaska	6.4	6.7	0.3
Arizona	6.1	5.6	-0.5
Arkansas	5.4	3.8	-1.6
California	6.4	5.2	-1.2
Colorado	3.9	3.4	-0.5
Connecticut	5.6	5.7	0.1
Delaware	4.9	4.1	-0.8
District Of Columbia	7.0	6.1	-0.9
Florida	5.4	4.7	-0.7
Georgia	5.9	5.3	-0.6
Hawaii	3.7	3.2	-0.5
Idaho	4.2	3.7	-0.5
Illinois	5.9	6.4	0.5
Indiana	4.8	5.0	0.2
Iowa	3.6	3.9	0.3
Kansas	4.2	3.7	-0.5
Kentucky	5.3	5.1	-0.2
Louisiana	6.3	6.3	0.0
Maine	4.5	3.5	-1.0
Maryland	5.2	4.5	-0.7
Massachusetts	4.9	4.2	-0.7
Michigan	5.5	4.7	-0.8
Minnesota	3.6	3.8	0.2
Mississippi	6.4	5.8	-0.6
Missouri	5.1	4.3	-0.8
Montana	4.1	4.2	0.1
Nebraska	2.9	3.0	0.1
Nevada	6.8	6.1	-0.7
New Hampshire	3.5	2.7	-0.8
New Jersey	5.8	4.9	-0.9
New Mexico	6.6	6.2	-0.4
New York	5.4	4.7	-0.7
North Carolina	5.8	5.1	-0.7
North Dakota	2.8	3.2	0.4
Ohio	4.9	5.1	0.2
Oklahoma	4.4	4.7	0.3
Oregon	5.8	4.5	-1.3
Pennsylvania	5.2	5.5	0.3
Rhode Island	6.1	5.4	-0.7
South Carolina	6.1	5.6	-0.5
South Dakota	3.2	2.5	-0.7
Tennessee	5.8	4.1	-1.7
Texas	4.4	4.4	0.0
Utah	3.6	3.8	0.2
Vermont	3.7	3.1	-0.6
Virginia	4.5	3.8	-0.7
Washington	5.6	5.8	0.2
West Virginia	7.1	6.2	-0.9
Wisconsin	4.6	4.2	-0.4
Wyoming	4.2	5.6	1.4
Footnotes: ^(p) preliminary.

South Dakota (2.5 percent) and New Hampshire (2.7 percent) had the lowest jobless rates in May 2016, while Alaska (6.7 percent) had the highest rate. In total, 16 states had unemployment rates significantly lower than the U.S. rate of 4.7 percent, 15 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 19 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see “Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — May 2016” (HTML) (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Sixteen states had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases over the past year at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/sixteen-states-had-statistically-significant-unemployment-rate-decreases-over-the-past-year.htm (visited September 12, 2024).

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