Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: September 2003 — 2003-10-21

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable in September. All four regions and 43 states had 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 remained at 6.1 percent in September. Nonfarm pay- roll employment decreased in 26 states over the month. The South posted the lowest regional unemployment rate, 5.5 percent, in September. This was the first time since June 1982 that the South reported a lower rate than the other three regions. The West continued to register the highest rate, 6.3 percent. The Midwest experienced the largest over- the-year unemployment rate change (+0.4 percentage point), while the other three regions reported little or no movement in their jobless rates. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central division had the lowest rate in September, 4.7 percent, followed by the South Atlantic division, 5.1 percent.