Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: February 2005 — 2005-03-31

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in February. All four regions and 43 states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less from January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates were down in 35 states, up in 13 states and the District of Columbia, and unchanged in 2 states. In February, the national unemployment rate edged up to 5.4 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 states over the month. The Northeast registered the lowest unemployment rate in February, 4.9 percent, while the Midwest had the highest rate, 5.8 percent. Jobless rates in all four regions were about unchanged over the month. The West and Northeast recorded over-the-year unemployment rate declines of -0.8 and -0.7 percentage point, respectively. The jobless rates in the South and Midwest were little different from those of February 2004.