*The July 2004 Total Nonfarm And Government Payroll Employment Data — 2004-08-20

Unemployment rates were generally little changed in July. All four regions and 43 states registered unemployment rate shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less from June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates declined in all four regions and 49 states. The national jobless rate in July was 5.5 per- cent, essentially unchanged from June. Nonfarm payroll employment rose in 28 states and the District of Columbia over the month. In July, the South again reported the lowest unemployment rate among the four regions, 4.9 percent. The West continued to post the highest rate, 5.7 percent, followed by the Midwest, 5.5 percent. Over the year, the South and West regions registered rate declines of 1.0 percentage point each, while the Midwest and Northeast each recorded decreases of 0.6 point.