Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: April 2005 — 2005-05-20

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in April. All 4 regions and 36 states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate shifts of 0.2 percentage point or less from March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates were down in 35 states and the District of Columbia, up in 12 states, and unchanged in 3 states. In April, the national unemployment rate, 5.2 percent, was unchanged from March and down by 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 46 states and the District of Columbia over the month and decreased in 4 states. Employment gains of 10,000 or more occurred in Florida (+21,000), California (+20,400), Illinois (+17,700), Nevada (+13,500), North Carolina (+13,400), Texas (+12,100), and Michigan (+10,000).