1996 Regional and State Unemployment — 1997-03-18

All four of the regions in the U.S. and seven of the nine divisions experienced small declines in their unemployment rates from 1995 to 1996, as the national rate edged down from 5.6 to 5.4 percent (annual averages), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The states were nearly equally divided between those in which jobless rates rose over the year and those in which rates fell. Unemployment rates were lower in 1996 than in the prior year in 24 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 21 states, and unchanged in 5 states. Only five states showed changes in either direction of 1.0 percentage point or more. Rhode Island reported the largest drop, 1.9 percentage points, while Alabama and Massachusetts recorded reductions of 1.2 and 1.1 points, respectively. Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin all posted their lowest rates in over 20 years.