2004 Regional and State Unemployment — 2005-03-10

Annual average unemployment rates were down in all four regions and 43 states in 2004, while employment-population ratios were little changed in three regions and half the states, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. At the national level, the job- less rate fell by 0.5 percentage point to 5.5 percent, while the employ- ment-population ratio was unchanged at 62.3 percent. Among the four regions, the West and Northeast registered the largest annual average unemployment rate decreases from 2003 (-0.7 and -0.6 percent- age point, respectively). The Northeast and South reported the lowest job- less rates in 2004, 5.3 percent each, while the West continued to record the highest rate, 5.9 percent. The Midwest had a rate of 5.7 percent. The range between the high and low regional unemployment rates narrowed from 0.9 percentage point in 2003 to 0.6 point in 2004.