August 2000 — 2000-09-19

Regional and state unemployment rates were stable in August. All four regions registered little or no change over the month, and 46 states 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 was essentially unchanged at 4.1 percent. Nonfarm employment increased in 31 states and the District of Columbia in August. The Midwest continued to have the lowest regional jobless rate, 3.6 percent in August, and the West again had the highest rate, 4.7 percent. Unemployment rates were down over the year by 0.6 percentage point in the Northeast, and unchanged or little changed in the remaining three regions. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central again had the lowest unemployment rate in August, 2.7 percent, followed by New England at 2.8 percent. At 5.1 percent, the Pacific division continued to register the highest rate.