Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: May 2003 — 2003-06-20

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable in May. All 4 regions and 45 states recorded rate changes of 0.3 percentage point or less from April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate was about unchanged at 6.1 percent in May. Nonfarm employment increased in 34 states in May. The Midwest had the lowest unemployment rate among the regions in May, 5.5 percent, followed closely by the Northeast and South, at 5.6 percent each. The West continued to report the highest rate, 6.4 percent. All four regions registered virtually no changes in their unemployment rates from those of a year earlier. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central continued to record the lowest jobless rate, 4.5 percent. The Pacific division again registered the highest rate, 6.8 percent. All divisions posted little or no change in their jobless rates from April.