August 1996 — 1996-10-01

Unemployment rates for most states showed little movement in August, as 43 states and the District of Columbia recorded shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage point to 5.1 percent in August. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 43 states and the District of Columbia in August. Jobless rates were lower in August than a month earlier in 27 states, higher in 13 states, and unchanged in 10 states and the District of Columbia. Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Tennessee all reported rate decreases of 0.5 percentage point, the largest declines over the month. As unemployment continued to fall in much of the nation, rates in six states--Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah-- reached their lowest points since the series began in 1978. The largest increase was in Rhode Island, where the unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage point.