Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: June 2003 — 2003-07-18

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable in June. All four regions registered little or no change from May, and 40 states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month shifts of 0.3 percent- age point or less, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate increased to 6.4 percent. Nonfarm employment increased in 26 states in June. The West continued to post the highest unemployment rate, 6.5 percent. The other three regions each recorded a rate of 5.7 percent in June. Com- pared with June 2002, all four regions showed little or no change in their jobless rates. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to report the highest unemployment rate, 6.9 percent in June 2003. The West North Central again registered the lowest rate, 4.7 percent. All divisions recorded little or no change from May to June.