April 2002 — 2002-05-17

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable from March to April, but were higher than a year earlier. All four regions reported little or no change from March, and 42 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 April. Nonfarm employment decreased in 33 states. The West region continued to register the highest unemployment rate, 6.2 percent, in April. The Northeast posted the lowest rate, 5.3 percent, followed closely by the Midwest and South, 5.4 and 5.5 percent, respectively. All four regions experienced rate increases over the year, ranging from 1.0 percentage point in the Midwest to 1.3 points in the West. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific again reported the highest unemployment rate, 6.5 percent.