January 2002 — 2002-03-06

In January, most regional and state unemployment rates either declined or were little changed over the month, but were higher than a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate decreased to 5.6 percent in January. Nonfarm employment increased in 30 states. (Employment and unemployment data for Michigan, and therefore the East North Central division and the Midwest region, were not available at the time of release.) In January, the Northeast recorded the lowest unemployment rate, 5.1 percent, of the three regions for which data were available. The West continued to report the highest rate, 6.2 percent. The South posted a small over-the-month decrease in its unemployment rate (-0.3 percentage point), while the jobless rates in the Northeast and West were unchanged from December. All three regions experienced over-the-year rate increases of at least 1.2 percentage points, with the West recording the largest increase (+1.7 points).