Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: December 2002 — 2003-01-28

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable in December. All four regions recorded little or no change from November, and 43 states registered shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate was unchanged at 6.0 percent in December. Nonfarm employment decreased in 34 states and the District of Columbia in December. Among the four regions, the Midwest had the lowest unemployment rate in December, 5.2 percent, followed by the South, at 5.4 percent. The West continued to report the highest rate, 6.3 percent. The only significant over-the-year unemployment rate change was recorded in the Northeast, up 0.6 percentage point to 5.7 percent. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central again reported the lowest jobless rate, 4.2 percent in December, while the Pacific continued to register the highest rate, 6.6 percent.