US Unemployment Figures - October 2008

The October US unemployment figures were released on Friday. Unsurprisingly, the numbers were not good, although there were a few positive surprises. Here are some of the highlights:

• Overall, the national unemployment rate increased by 0.4%, from 6.1% to 6.5%, over September's number. For the past twelve months, the national rate has increased 1.7%.
  
• In terms of monthly change, the state with the largest increase is Oregon, with a 0.9% increase; Alaska and South Carolina have the next two largest increases, at 0.7% each.
  
• On an annual basis, the state with the largest increase is Rhode Island, which has nearly doubled in the past twelve months, from 5.1% to 9.3%, an increase of 4.2%. Florida had the second largest increase, at 2.7%, followed closely by the states of Idaho (2.6%), California, Georgia and Nevada (all at 2.5%).
  
• The state with the highest unemployment rate are the states of Rhode Island and Michigan, both of which are at 9.3%. California is in third with a rate of 8.2%, followed by South Carolina with a rate of 8.0%.
  
• States with the lowest unemployment rates are primarily located in the west and upper mid-west: Wyoming and South Dakota (3.3%), North Dakota (3.4%), and Utah (3.5%).
  
• In terms of non-farm payroll employment (i.e., number of jobs), states with the biggest decreases since September were Washington (-29,300), Florida (-27,300), Michigan (-19,600), and Arizona (-17,700).
  
• For annual changes in non-farm payroll employment, states with the biggest decreases are Florida (-156,200), California (-101,300), Michigan (-71,200), and Arizona (-70,400). However, two states had statistically significant increases over the past year: Texas (230,400) and Wyoming (9,500).

The PDF version of the Bureau of Labor Statistics press release can be found here.