Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release — 2013-03-29

Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in February. Twenty-two states had unemployment rate decreases, 12 states had increases, and 16 states and the District of Columbia had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, 10 states had increases, and 3 states had no change. The national jobless rate, 7.7 percent, edged down from January and was 0.6 percentage point lower than in February 2012. In February 2013, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 42 states and decreased in 8 states and the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in Texas (+80,600) and California (+41,200). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Connecticut (-5,700), followed by Nevada (-5,500). Utah had the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+1.4 percent), followed by Idaho (+0.8 percent) and Texas (+0.7 percent).