Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: July 2003 — 2003-08-19

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in July. All 4 regions, 41 states, and the District of Columbia recorded shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less in their unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national jobless rate edged down to 6.2 percent over the month. Nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 28 states. The West continued to register the highest unemployment rate in July, 6.5 percent. The Northeast recorded the lowest rate, 5.7 percent, closely followed by the Midwest and South, 5.8 percent each. The largest over-the- year unemployment rate change in any of the regions was a 0.3-percentage point increase in the Midwest. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to have the highest unemployment rate, 6.8 percent in July. The West South Central and East North Central divisions posted the next highest rates, 6.5 and 6.3 per- cent, respectively.