Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) News Release — 2009-06-19

Regional and state unemployment rates were nearly all higher in May. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 1 state registered a rate decrease, and 1 state had no rate change, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate rose from 8.9 percent in April to 9.4 percent in May, which was 3.9 per- centage points higher than a year earlier. In May, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 39 states and increased in 11 states and the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-month decrease in the level of employment occurred in California (-68,900), followed by Florida (-61,000), Texas (-24,700), and Michigan (-23,900).