November Employment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report today on regional and state employment and unemployment for November.
Highlights of the report:
– Non-farm payroll employment increased in 42 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 6 states and remained unchanged in 2 states in November.
– California recorded the highest non-farm payroll employment gains (+20,400), followed by Florida (+17,900), Texas (+17,300), and Louisiana (+14,600). Non-farm payroll employment decreases were minimal and were experienced in Indiana (-2,800), Minnesota (-2,600), Tennessee (-2,200), Kentucky (-1,000), South Dakota (-400), and Vermont (-200).
– New Jersey (+0.7 percentage point), Missouri and New York (+0.6 percentage point) and Michigan and Pennsylvania (+0.5 percentage point) each had the highest unemployment rate increases from October. Alabama (-0.9 percentage point), Utah (-0.5 percentage point), and Vermont (-0.4 percentage points each) registered the largest over-the-month unemployment rate decreases. Forty states and the District of Columbia reported unemployment rates in November that were not appreciably different from those of October.
– Twenty-five states registered over-the-month unemployment rate increases in November. Nineteen states recorded unemployment rate decreases. Six states and the District of Columbia recorded no change.
– The unemployment rates in Louisiana and Mississippi are still elevated due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina although progress was made in the month of November.