Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: May 2002 — 2002-06-21

Most regional and state unemployment rates either were little changed or declined from April to May, but remained markedly higher than a year earlier. All four regions reported little or no change from April, and 39 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 jobless rate also was little changed at 5.8 percent in May. Nonfarm employment increased in 31 states and the District of Columbia. The Midwest region had the lowest unemployment rate in May, 5.3 percent, followed closely by the Northeast and South, at 5.4 and 5.5 percent, respec- tively. The West continued to report the highest jobless rate, 6.1 percent.