August 1994 — 1994-09-27

Unemployment rates were lower in August 1994 than a month earlier in 28 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 18 states, and unchanged in 4 states, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, unchanged from July. Employment on nonfarm payrolls was higher in August than in July in 40 states. No state had an unemployment rate change larger than 0.6 percentage point between July and August. Jobless rates in both Florida and Illinois dropped by 0.6 point to 5.6 and 5.7 percent, respectively. Four other states--Delaware, Idaho, Georgia, and North Dakota--had declines of 0.5 point. In contrast, only two states--Arizona and North Carolina--had unemployment rate increases as large as 0.5 percentage point; their rates rose to 6.3 and 5.2 percent, respectively. (See table 1.) A total of 17 states had August unemployment rates below 5.0 percent.