December 1999 — 2000-01-21

Regional and state unemployment rates remained stable in December. All four regions posted little or no change over the month, and 45 states and the District of Columbia recorded shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent. Nonfarm employment rose in 41 states and the District of Columbia. At the regional level, the Midwest continued to record the lowest unemployment rate, 3.4 percent in December. The West once again had the highest rate, 4.6 percent, although it also experienced the largest over- the-year decrease (-0.7 percentage point). The other regions reported small declines from a year earlier. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central again recorded the lowest unemployment rate, 2.6 percent in December. The Pacific division registered the highest rate, 4.8 percent. Over the month, unemployment rates in all divisions showed little or no change.