Economic News | Executive Summary | August 2019

Housing Starts

According to The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing starts are going strong in July of 2019. June housing permits were above estimates as were housing starts, and housing completions in July of 2019. 

State Employment and Unemployment Summary

Source: United States Department of Labor

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, August 16, 2019                                   

USDL-19-1478

Summary of Departent of Labor Report Below

• Unemployement has been at the historic lows of 3.7% US average for the past 12 months. 
• Vermont had the lowest unemploment rate at 2.1%
• Alaska had the highest rate at only 6.3%
• Six states had unemployment decreases
• Two states had unemployment increases
• The other states had satistically insignificant changes.

Technical information:

 Employment:      (202) 691-6559  *  [email protected]  *  www.bls.gov/sae

 Unemployment:     (202) 691-6392  *  [email protected]  *  www.bls.gov/lau

Media contact:     (202) 691-5902  *  [email protected]

STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT — JULY 2019

Unemployment rates were lower in July in 6 states, higher in 2 states, and stable in 42 states

and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Three states

had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier, 1 state had an increase, and 46 states and the

District had little or no change. The national unemployment rate, 3.7 percent, was unchanged

over the month and little changed from July 2018.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 5 states in July 2019 and was essentially unchanged in

45 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, 25 states added nonfarm payroll jobs and

25 states and the District were essentially unchanged.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly programs. The civilian labor force and

unemployment data are modeled based largely on a survey of households. These data pertain to

individuals by where they reside. The employment data come from an establishment survey that

measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. These data pertain to jobs on

payrolls defined by where the establishments are located. For more information about the concepts

and statistical methodologies used by these two programs, see the Technical Note.

Unemployment

Vermont had the lowest unemployment rate in July, 2.1 percent. The rates in Alabama (3.3 percent),

Arkansas (3.4 percent), Maine (3.0 percent), and New Jersey (3.3 percent) set new series lows.

(All state series begin in 1976.) Alaska had the highest jobless rate, 6.3 percent. In total,

14 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 3.7 percent, 8 states and the

District of Columbia had higher rates, and 28 states had rates that were not appreciably different

from that of the nation. (See tables A and 1.)

In July, six states had unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which were in Alabama, Maine,

and New Jersey (-0.2 percentage point each). Iowa and Wyoming had over-the-month rate increases

(+0.1 percentage point each). The remaining 42 states and the District of Columbia had jobless

rates that were not notably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that

were at least as large numerically as the significant changes. (See table B.)

Three states had unemployment rate declines from July 2018: New Jersey (-0.7 percentage point),

Vermont (-0.6 point), and Wyoming (-0.5 point). The only unemployment rate increase over the year

occurred in Minnesota (+0.6 percentage point).

Nonfarm Payroll Employment

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in five states in July 2019. The largest job gains occurred in

Texas (+35,200), Florida (+22,900), and Washington (+13,400). The largest percentage gains occurred

in Utah (+0.7 percent), Idaho (+0.5 percent), and Washington (+0.4 percent). (See tables C and 3.)

Twenty-five states had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment in July. The largest

job gains occurred in Texas (+323,300), California (+311,800), and Florida (+227,200). The largest

percentage gains occurred in Nevada and Utah (+3.1 percent each), followed by Washington (+3.0 percent)

and Idaho (+2.8 percent). (See table D.)

_____________

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for July is scheduled to be released

on Wednesday, August 28, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The State Employment and Unemployment news release

for August is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 20, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different

from that of the U.S., July 2019, seasonally adjusted

————————————————————–

                State                |          Rate(p)

————————————————————–

United States (1) ……………….|           3.7

                                     |

Alaska …………………………|           6.3

Arizona ………………………..|           4.9

California ……………………..|           4.1

Colorado ……………………….|           2.9

District of Columbia …………….|           5.6

Hawaii …………………………|           2.8

Idaho ………………………….|           2.9

Iowa …………………………..|           2.5

Louisiana ………………………|           4.3

Maine ………………………….|           3.0

                                     |

Massachusetts …………………..|           2.9

Mississippi …………………….|           5.1

Nebraska ……………………….|           3.1

New Hampshire …………………..|           2.5

New Mexico ……………………..|           4.9

North Dakota ……………………|           2.4

South Dakota ……………………|           2.9

Utah …………………………..|           2.8

Vermont ………………………..|           2.1

Virginia ……………………….|           2.9

                                     |

Washington ……………………..|           4.6

West Virginia …………………..|           4.7

Wisconsin ………………………|           3.0

————————————————————–

   (1) Data are not preliminary.

   (p) = preliminary.

Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes

from June 2019 to July 2019, seasonally adjusted

————————————————————————-

                                |          Rate         |

                                |———–|———–| Over-the-month

             State              |    June   |    July   |    change(p)

                                |    2019   |   2019(p) |

————————————————————————-

Alabama ……………………|     3.5   |     3.3   |      -0.2

Colorado …………………..|     3.0   |     2.9   |       -.1

Georgia ……………………|     3.7   |     3.6   |       -.1

Iowa ………………………|     2.4   |     2.5   |        .1

Maine ……………………..|     3.2   |     3.0   |       -.2

Montana ……………………|     3.5   |     3.4   |       -.1

New Jersey …………………|     3.5   |     3.3   |       -.2

Wyoming ……………………|     3.5   |     3.6   |        .1

————————————————————————-

   (p) = preliminary.

Table C. States with statistically significant employment changes

from June 2019 to July 2019, seasonally adjusted

————————————————————————————–

                              |             |             | Over-the-month change(p)

           State              |     June    |     July    |—————————

                              |     2019    |    2019(p)  |    Level    |   Percent

————————————————————————————–

Florida ………………….|   8,989,100 |   9,012,000 |      22,900 |      0.3

Idaho ……………………|     756,500 |     760,600 |       4,100 |       .5

Texas ……………………|  12,810,700 |  12,845,900 |      35,200 |       .3

Utah …………………….|   1,556,400 |   1,566,600 |      10,200 |       .7

Washington ……………….|   3,496,200 |   3,509,600 |      13,400 |       .4

————————————————————————————–

   (p) = preliminary.

Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes

from July 2018 to July 2019, seasonally adjusted

————————————————————————————–

                              |             |             | Over-the-year change(p)

           State              |     July    |     July    |—————————

                              |     2018    |    2019(p)  |    Level    |    Percent

————————————————————————————–

Alabama ………………….|   2,044,800 |   2,085,100 |      40,300 |      2.0

Arizona ………………….|   2,859,700 |   2,931,900 |      72,200 |      2.5

California ……………….|  17,176,800 |  17,488,600 |     311,800 |      1.8

Colorado …………………|   2,734,300 |   2,787,000 |      52,700 |      1.9

Florida ………………….|   8,784,800 |   9,012,000 |     227,200 |      2.6

Georgia ………………….|   4,542,700 |   4,617,000 |      74,300 |      1.6

Idaho ……………………|     740,000 |     760,600 |      20,600 |      2.8

Illinois …………………|   6,123,300 |   6,186,000 |      62,700 |      1.0

Kentucky …………………|   1,931,700 |   1,959,800 |      28,100 |      1.5

Massachusetts …………….|   3,641,600 |   3,678,900 |      37,300 |      1.0

                              |             |             |             |      

Mississippi ………………|   1,152,700 |   1,171,700 |      19,000 |      1.6

Missouri …………………|   2,892,900 |   2,927,600 |      34,700 |      1.2

Nevada …………………..|   1,385,500 |   1,428,900 |      43,400 |      3.1

New Hampshire …………….|     680,800 |     691,000 |      10,200 |      1.5

New Jersey ……………….|   4,153,700 |   4,202,000 |      48,300 |      1.2

New Mexico ……………….|     841,700 |     861,500 |      19,800 |      2.4

New York …………………|   9,684,600 |   9,780,100 |      95,500 |      1.0

North Carolina ……………|   4,496,500 |   4,572,200 |      75,700 |      1.7

Oregon …………………..|   1,907,800 |   1,944,200 |      36,400 |      1.9

South Carolina ……………|   2,146,100 |   2,179,300 |      33,200 |      1.5

                              |             |             |             |      

South Dakota ……………..|     438,600 |     447,900 |       9,300 |      2.1

Tennessee ………………..|   3,060,500 |   3,115,600 |      55,100 |      1.8

Texas ……………………|  12,522,600 |  12,845,900 |     323,300 |      2.6

Utah …………………….|   1,519,200 |   1,566,600 |      47,400 |      3.1

Washington ……………….|   3,407,200 |   3,509,600 |     102,400 |      3.0

————————————————————————————–

   (p) = preliminary.

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