TEXT
Table 1.  Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state,

Technical information:  (202) 606-6392        USDL 94-199
 
 
Media contact:                606-5902         For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
                                               Wednesday, April 20, 1994
 
 
                  STATE AND REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT IN 1993
 
     Thirty-seven states had lower annual average unemployment rates in
1993 than in 1992, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor.  Sixteen states had  decreases of 1 percentage point
or more, compared with only one state in the prior year.  Jobless rates
increased in 10 states and the District of Columbia in 1993 and were
unchanged in 3 states.  Nationally in 1993, the unemployment rate averaged
6.8 percent, down from 7.4 percent in 1992.
 
     The unemployment rate declined in all four geographic regions of the
country from 1992 to 1993, with the largest decrease occurring in the
Northeast.  The West had the highest rate in 1993--7.9 percent, little
changed from 1992.  The Midwest had the lowest rate at 6.0 percent.
 
     Among the nine geographic divisions, unemployment rates declined in
seven from 1992 to 1993; in the other two, the Pacific and the West North
Central, rates were about unchanged.  The greatest improvement was in New
England where the unemployment rate declined to 6.8 percent; the rate had
held steady at 8.0 percent in 1991 and 1992.  All of the New England states
except Maine had lower unemployment rates in 1993, with decreases in the
1-to-1.5 percentage point range.  Maine, however,  had an over-the-year
increase of 0.8 percentage point in its rate.
 
     The Pacific division, with an 8.7 percent unemployment rate in 1993,
continued to have the highest rate among the divisions.  Most of the states
in the Pacific division, including California, showed no marked change,
except Alaska, where the rate dropped 1-1/2 percentage points.  The West
North Central remained the division with the lowest unemployment rate, 4.9
percent.
 
     Two states and the District of Columbia had annual unemployment rates
of 8.5 percent or higher in 1993.  West Virginia's rate, 10.8 percent,
continued to be the highest; California's followed at 9.2 percent.
Nebraska and South Dakota continued to have the lowest jobless rates, 2.6
and 3.5 percent, respectively.  Six other states had rates below 5.0
percent in 1993.  (See map.)
 
                            - 2 -
 
     All estimates presented in this release, except those for Puerto Rico,
were derived from the Current Population Survey, a sample survey of about
60,000 households conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by
the Bureau of Census.  A description of the survey and information about
the reliability of the state estimates appear in Geographic Profile of
Employment and Unemployment, 1992, Bulletin 2428.
 
     Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request.  Voice phone: 202-606-STAT, TDD phone:
202-606-5897, TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577.
 
 
 
 Table 1.  Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state,
 1992-93 annual averages
 
 (Numbers in thousands)
 
 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                    |               |               |               |               |               |
                                    |               |Civilian labor |               |               | Unemployment  |
                                    |  Population   |     force     |   Employed    |  Unemployed   |     rate      | Error range
     Region, division, and state    |               |               |               |               |               |  of rate,
                                    |               |               |               |               |               |   19931/
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
                                    | 1992  | 1993  | 1992  | 1993  | 1992  | 1993  | 1992  | 1993  | 1992  | 1993  |
                                     |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
          United States2/...........|191,576|193,550|126,982|128,040|117,598|119,306|  9,384|  8,734|   7.4 |   6.8 | 6.7  -   6.9
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 Northeast..........................| 39,552| 39,640| 25,630| 25,582| 23,555| 23,734|  2,075|  1,848|   8.1 |   7.2 | 7.0  -   7.4
   New England......................| 10,217| 10,215|  7,066|  7,037|  6,504|  6,562|    563|    475|   8.0 |   6.8 | 6.5  -   7.1
     Connecticut....................|  2,551|  2,542|  1,822|  1,788|  1,684|  1,678|    137|    111|   7.5 |   6.2 | 5.5  -   6.9
     Maine..........................|    949|    950|    651|    631|    604|    581|     46|     50|   7.1 |   7.9 | 7.1  -   8.7
     Massachusetts..................|  4,663|  4,663|  3,149|  3,170|  2,882|  2,953|    267|    217|   8.5 |   6.9 | 6.6  -   7.2
     New Hampshire..................|    853|    859|    614|    620|    568|    579|     46|     41|   7.5 |   6.6 | 5.9  -   7.3
     Rhode Island...................|    765|    761|    521|    512|    475|    472|     46|     40|   8.9 |   7.7 | 6.9  -   8.5
     Vermont........................|    436|    440|    310|    316|    290|    299|     21|     17|   6.6 |   5.4 | 4.7  -   6.1
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
   Middle Atlantic..................| 29,335| 29,425| 18,563| 18,545| 17,051| 17,173|  1,512|  1,372|   8.1 |   7.4 | 7.2  -   7.6
     New Jersey.....................|  6,077|  6,107|  4,034|  4,001|  3,697|  3,706|    337|    295|   8.4 |   7.4 | 7.0  -   7.8
     New York.......................| 14,002| 14,034|  8,642|  8,649|  7,907|  7,985|    734|    664|   8.5 |   7.7 | 7.4  -   8.0
     Pennsylvania...................|  9,256|  9,284|  5,885|  5,893|  5,444|  5,479|    442|    414|   7.5 |   7.0 | 6.6  -   7.4
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 Midwest............................| 45,531| 45,859| 31,022| 31,343| 28,996| 29,460|  2,025|  1,883|   6.5 |   6.0 | 5.8  -   6.2
   East North Central...............| 32,223| 32,449| 21,633| 21,827| 20,057| 20,413|  1,576|  1,414|   7.3 |   6.5 | 6.3  -   6.7
     Illinois.......................|  8,773|  8,830|  5,989|  5,983|  5,538|  5,538|    451|    444|   7.5 |   7.4 | 7.0  -   7.8
     Indiana........................|  4,265|  4,317|  2,830|  2,937|  2,645|  2,780|    185|    157|   6.5 |   5.3 | 4.7  -   5.9
     Michigan.......................|  7,093|  7,132|  4,646|  4,702|  4,238|  4,374|    408|    328|   8.8 |   7.0 | 6.6  -   7.4
     Ohio...........................|  8,353|  8,397|  5,497|  5,488|  5,100|  5,132|    397|    357|   7.2 |   6.5 | 6.2  -   6.8
     Wisconsin......................|  3,739|  3,773|  2,668|  2,715|  2,533|  2,589|    135|    127|   5.1 |   4.7 | 4.2  -   5.2
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
   West North Central...............| 13,308| 13,410|  9,385|  9,517|  8,934|  9,047|    451|    469|   4.8 |   4.9 | 4.6  -   5.2
     Iowa...........................|  2,103|  2,115|  1,504|  1,550|  1,434|  1,488|     70|     62|   4.6 |   4.0 | 3.5  -   4.5
     Kansas.........................|  1,843|  1,858|  1,307|  1,318|  1,252|  1,253|     55|     66|   4.2 |   5.0 | 4.4  -   5.6
     Minnesota......................|  3,321|  3,351|  2,413|  2,466|  2,289|  2,341|    124|    125|   5.1 |   5.1 | 4.5  -   5.7
     Missouri.......................|  3,894|  3,926|  2,660|  2,650|  2,509|  2,481|    151|    169|   5.7 |   6.4 | 5.7  -   7.1
     Nebraska.......................|  1,176|  1,184|    835|    853|    810|    830|     25|     22|   3.0 |   2.6 | 2.2  -   3.0
     North Dakota...................|    462|    463|    313|    318|    298|    305|     15|     14|   4.9 |   4.3 | 3.6  -   5.0
     South Dakota...................|    509|    513|    354|    360|    342|    347|     11|     12|   3.1 |   3.5 | 2.9  -   4.1
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 South..............................| 66,634| 67,604| 43,639| 44,178| 40,513| 41,322|  3,127|  2,857|   7.2 |   6.5 | 6.4  -   6.6
   South Atlantic...................| 34,475| 34,974| 22,710| 22,976| 21,098| 21,541|  1,612|  1,436|   7.1 |   6.2 | 6.0  -   6.4
     Delaware.......................|    527|    533|    365|    373|    346|    354|     19|     20|   5.3 |   5.3 | 4.7  -   5.9
     District of Columbia...........|    464|    458|    308|    306|    282|    280|     26|     26|   8.4 |   8.5 | 7.7  -   9.3
     Florida........................| 10,547| 10,688|  6,524|  6,628|  5,990|  6,166|    533|    462|   8.2 |   7.0 | 6.7  -   7.3
     Georgia........................|  5,069|  5,181|  3,348|  3,467|  3,116|  3,267|    232|    200|   6.9 |   5.8 | 5.2  -   6.4
     Maryland.......................|  3,764|  3,797|  2,675|  2,672|  2,499|  2,507|    176|    165|   6.6 |   6.2 | 5.5  -   6.9
     North Carolina.................|  5,212|  5,290|  3,545|  3,555|  3,335|  3,383|    210|    173|   5.9 |   4.9 | 4.6  -   5.2
     South Carolina.................|  2,691|  2,733|  1,788|  1,823|  1,677|  1,685|    112|    138|   6.2 |   7.5 | 6.9  -   8.1
     Virginia.......................|  4,784|  4,863|  3,394|  3,376|  3,178|  3,208|    216|    168|   6.4 |   5.0 | 4.5  -   5.5
     West Virginia..................|  1,417|  1,431|    771|    786|    684|    702|     87|     85|  11.3 |  10.8 | 9.9  -  11.7
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
   East South Central...............| 11,794| 11,946|  7,356|  7,496|  6,840|  7,018|    517|    478|   7.0 |   6.4 | 6.1  -   6.7
     Alabama........................|  3,143|  3,190|  1,951|  1,990|  1,808|  1,840|    143|    149|   7.3 |   7.5 | 6.8  -   8.2
     Kentucky.......................|  2,851|  2,883|  1,763|  1,794|  1,642|  1,684|    122|    110|   6.9 |   6.2 | 5.5  -   6.9
     Mississippi....................|  1,930|  1,948|  1,188|  1,212|  1,092|  1,135|     97|     77|   8.1 |   6.3 | 5.7  -   6.9
     Tennessee......................|  3,870|  3,925|  2,454|  2,500|  2,298|  2,358|    156|    142|   6.4 |   5.7 | 5.1  -   6.3
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
   West South Central...............| 20,365| 20,684| 13,576| 13,706| 12,577| 12,763|    999|    943|   7.4 |   6.9 | 6.6  -   7.2
     Arkansas.......................|  1,815|  1,841|  1,151|  1,163|  1,068|  1,091|     83|     72|   7.2 |   6.2 | 5.6  -   6.8
     Louisiana......................|  3,116|  3,138|  1,929|  1,879|  1,773|  1,740|    156|    139|   8.1 |   7.4 | 6.6  -   8.2
     Oklahoma.......................|  2,386|  2,403|  1,518|  1,524|  1,432|  1,432|     86|     92|   5.7 |   6.0 | 5.4  -   6.6
     Texas..........................| 13,048| 13,302|  8,986|  9,149|  8,311|  8,508|    675|    642|   7.5 |   7.0 | 6.7  -   7.3
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 West...............................| 41,090| 41,737| 27,498| 27,777| 25,276| 25,575|  2,222|  2,202|   8.1 |   7.9 | 7.7  -   8.1
   Mountain.........................| 10,612| 10,923|  7,143|  7,362|  6,684|  6,931|    459|    430|   6.4 |   5.8 | 5.5  -   6.1
     Arizona........................|  2,875|  2,956|  1,812|  1,837|  1,677|  1,723|    135|    114|   7.4 |   6.2 | 5.5  -   6.9
     Colorado.......................|  2,608|  2,685|  1,828|  1,904|  1,719|  1,805|    108|     99|   5.9 |   5.2 | 4.6  -   5.8
     Idaho..........................|    772|    799|    530|    545|    495|    512|     34|     34|   6.5 |   6.1 | 5.5  -   6.7
     Montana........................|    617|    629|    423|    427|    395|    401|     28|     26|   6.7 |   6.0 | 5.3  -   6.7
     Nevada.........................|  1,024|  1,064|    715|    745|    668|    692|     47|     54|   6.6 |   7.2 | 6.5  -   7.9
     New Mexico.....................|  1,161|  1,186|    741|    756|    691|    700|     51|     57|   6.8 |   7.5 | 6.7  -   8.3
     Utah...........................|  1,217|  1,261|    857|    910|    815|    875|     42|     35|   4.9 |   3.9 | 3.3  -   4.5
     Wyoming........................|    338|    343|    238|    239|    225|    226|     13|     13|   5.6 |   5.4 | 4.7  -   6.1
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
   Pacific..........................| 30,478| 30,814| 20,356| 20,415| 18,597| 18,643|  1,759|  1,772|   8.6 |   8.7 | 8.4  -   9.0
     Alaska.........................|    396|    405|    289|    298|    263|    276|     26|     23|   9.1 |   7.6 | 6.7  -   8.5
     California.....................| 23,106| 23,288| 15,307| 15,259| 13,913| 13,853|  1,393|  1,407|   9.1 |   9.2 | 8.9  -   9.5
     Hawaii.........................|    840|    854|    578|    583|    552|    558|     26|     25|   4.5 |   4.2 | 3.6  -   4.8
     Oregon.........................|  2,280|  2,327|  1,542|  1,587|  1,426|  1,473|    116|    114|   7.5 |   7.2 | 6.5  -   7.9
     Washington.....................|  3,856|  3,940|  2,644|  2,693|  2,445|  2,490|    198|    203|   7.5 |   7.5 | 6.7  -   8.3
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 Puerto Rico3/......................|  1,628|  1,676|    934|    950|    802|    828|    132|    122|  14.1 |  12.8 |     (4)
                                    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
    1/  Error ranges are shown at the 90-percent confidence
 level.
    2/  Because of separate processing and weighting proce-
 dures, totals for the United States differ from the results
 obtained by aggregating the data for regions, divisions, or
 states.  Moreover, due to independent population adjustments,
 data for geographic components may not add to totals for
 larger geographic areas.
    3/  The source of these data is the Employment Security
 Agency of Puerto Rico.
    4/  Not available.
    NOTE:  Sub-national data incorporate 1990 census-based
 population controls, adjusted for the estimated undercount.
 Data back to 1990 have been revised.  For additional informa-
 tion, see "Revisions in State and Area Estimates Effective
 January 1994" in the March 1994 issue of Employment and Earnings