Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release — 2011-01-25

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in December. Twenty states recorded unemployment rate increases, 15 states and the District of Columbia registered rate decreases, and 15 states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia posted unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, 16 states reported increases, and 3 states had no change. The national jobless rate fell by 0.4 percentage point between November and December to 9.4 percent, 0.5 point lower than in December 2009. In December 2010, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 35 states and the District of Columbia and increased in 15 states. The largest over-the- month employment decreases were in New York (-22,800), Minnesota (-22,400), Florida (-17,900), and Georgia (-17,500). The largest over-the-month per- centage decreases in employment occurred in Minnesota (-0.8 percent), Alabama and Hawaii (-0.7 percent each), and Delaware and Georgia (-0.5 percent each).