July 1994 — 1994-08-30

Unemployment rates were higher in July than in June in 26 states and the District of Columbia, lower in 18 states, and unchanged in 6 states, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The national unemployment rate in July was 6.1 percent, little changed from June's 6.0 percent. Employment on nonfarm payrolls was higher in July than in the prior month in 33 states. Nine states had unemployment rate increases of 0.5 percentage point or more in July, and eight states had declines of a similar magnitude. (See table 1.) The rate in Illinois increased by 1.5 percentage points, reversing the 1 percentage point drop experienced between May and June. North Carolina was the only other state to have a sizable over-the- month increase--1.0 percentage point. West Virginia had the largest unemployment rate decrease--0.9 point.