May 1999 — 1999-06-18

Regional and state unemployment rates were relatively stable in May. All four regions reported little or no change over the month, and 39 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, 4.2 percent, was little changed. At the regional level, the Midwest continued to have the lowest unemployment rate, 3.6 percent in May. The West once again had the highest rate, 4.9 percent; however, this was the lowest rate in its series (dating back to 1980). Over the year, rates declined by one-half percentage point in both the Northeast and West, but were little changed in the Midwest and South. (See table 1.) Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central once again registered the lowest unemployment rate, 2.9 percent, and the Pacific division continued to report the highest rate, 5.2 percent in May.