Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: October 2003 — 2003-11-21

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally unchanged or slightly lower in October. All 4 regions and 37 states recorded shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less in their unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate was essentially unchanged over the month at 6.0 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 35 states and the District of Columbia in October. The South again recorded the lowest unemployment rate, 5.4 percent in October. The West continued to register the highest rate, 6.2 percent. The largest over-the-year unemployment rate change in any of the regions was a 0.3-percentage point decrease in the West. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central again experienced the lowest unemployment rate, 4.6 percent in October, followed by the South Atlantic, 4.9 percent. The Pacific division continued to have the highest unemployment rate, 6.6 percent.