Regional And State Employment And Unemployment: March 2003 — 2003-05-08

Most regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in March. All regions and 44 states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the- month 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 was unchanged at 5.8 percent. Nonfarm employment decreased in 31 states in March. The South registered the lowest unemployment rate in March, 5.5 percent. The Midwest and Northeast followed closely, with rates of 5.6 and 5.7 per- cent, respectively. The West continued to record the highest rate, 6.4 per- cent. Each of the four regions posted little or no change in its unemploy- ment rate from a year ago. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central again had the lowest jobless rate, 4.4 percent in March. The Pacific continued to report the highest rate, 6.6 percent.