Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: March 2004 — 2004-04-23

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in March, but most were down over the year. All four regions and 43 states had shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less in their unemployment rates from February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate was about unchanged at 5.7 percent in March. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 37 states and the District of Columbia. In March, the South again had the lowest unemployment rate among the four regions, 5.1 percent, while the West continued to report the highest rate, 5.9 percent. The South and West recorded the largest over-the-year declines in their unemployment rates (-0.7 percentage point each), while the Midwest and the Northeast experienced smaller declines (-0.4 and -0.3 point, respectively).