Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: November 2002 — 2002-12-20

Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in November, but remained generally higher than a year ago. All four regions reported little or no change from October, and 48 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 rose to 6.0 percent in November. Nonfarm employment decreased in 26 states in November. The Midwest had the lowest unemployment rate in November, 5.2 percent, followed closely by the South, at 5.3 percent. The West continued to report the highest rate, 6.1 percent. Over the year, the Northeast registered the largest unemployment rate change (+0.5 percentage point). (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central continued to record the lowest jobless rate, 4.2 percent, while the Pacific division again reported the highest rate, 6.4 percent.