For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Wednesday, March 4, 2015 USDL-15-0323 

Technical information: (202) 691-6392 • lausinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/lau 

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

REGIONAL AND STATE UNEMPLOYMENT — 2014 ANNUAL AVERAGES 

In 2014, annual average unemployment rates declined in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment-population ratios increased in 35 states and 

the District of Columbia, decreased in 12 states, and were unchanged in 3 states. The U.S. jobless rate 

decreased by 1.2 percentage points to 6.2 percent in 2014, while the national employment-population 

ratio increased by 0.4 point to 59.0 percent. 

Regional Unemployment 

All four regions had annual average unemployment rate declines from 2013, with the Midwest and 

Northeast having the largest decreases (-1.4 percentage points each). The Midwest, at 5.8 percent, had 

the lowest regional unemployment rate in 2014, while the West, at 6.8 percent, had the highest rate. (See 

table 1.) 

Among the nine geographic divisions, the West North Central had the lowest annual average 

unemployment rate, 4.6 percent in 2014. The Pacific had the highest jobless rate, 7.2 percent. All nine 

divisions had over-the-year unemployment rate declines, the largest of which occurred in the East North 

Central (-1.7 percentage points) and Middle Atlantic (-1.5 points). 

Changes to Local Area Unemployment Statistics Data 

All subnational estimates presented in this news release, except those for Puerto Rico, were produced 

using a new generation of time-series models. Information is available in the “Report on Revision to 

State and Area Time-Series Models” on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/lau/lauschanges2015.htm. 

Effective with this news release, data have been re-estimated back to 1976 for regions, divisions, 

states, and the District of Columbia. The annual average data shown in tables 1 and 2 were affected, as 

were monthly seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data. 

 
- 2 - 

State Unemployment 

Annual average unemployment rates decreased from 2013 to 2014 in all 50 states and the District of 

Columbia. This was the first year since 1984 in which all states and the District had over-the-year rate 

declines. The largest rate decline occurred in Illinois (-2.0 percentage points), followed by Colorado, 

North Carolina, and Ohio (-1.8 points each). Twenty additional states had over-the-year jobless rate 

decreases of at least 1.0 percentage point. (See chart 1.) 

North Dakota had the lowest annual average unemployment rate (2.8 percent) in 2014. Nebraska (3.3 

percent) and South Dakota (3.4 percent) had the next lowest jobless rates. Eleven additional states had 

annual average unemployment rates under 5.0 percent. Mississippi and Nevada had the highest jobless 

rates (7.8 percent each) among the states, followed by Rhode Island (7.7 percent). The District of 

Columbia also had a jobless rate of 7.8 percent. (See chart 2.) 

Regional Employment-Population Ratios 

In 2014, all four regions had over-the-year increases in their employment-population ratios—the 

proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and older who are employed. The 

Midwest had the largest increase (+0.8 percentage point). The Midwest also had the highest 

employment-population ratio, 61.3 percent, while the South had the lowest, 57.9 percent. (See table 2.) 

Eight of the 9 geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in their employment-population ratios, 

with the largest of these occurring in the East North Central (+1.0 percentage point). The East South 

Central had the only ratio decline over the year (-0.9 percentage point). The West North Central had the 

highest proportion of employed persons, 65.3 percent in 2014, while the East South Central had the 

lowest proportion, 53.6 percent. 

State Employment-Population Ratios 

In 2014, Hawaii and Indiana had the largest over-the-year increases in their employment-population 

ratios (+1.4 percentage points each), followed by Louisiana (+1.2 points) and Connecticut (+1.1 points). 

Sixteen additional states had increases of at least 0.5 percentage point. Mississippi and Tennessee had 

the largest decreases in their employment-population ratios (-1.2 percentage points each). Four other 

states had declines of at least 0.5 percentage point. 

North Dakota had the highest proportion of employed persons, 70.8 percent in 2014. Four other states in 

the West North Central division had the next highest ratios: Nebraska, 68.9 percent; Iowa, 67.3 percent; 

Minnesota, 67.0 percent; and South Dakota, 66.9 percent. West Virginia had the lowest employmentpopulation ratio among the states, 49.7 percent. West Virginia has had the lowest employmentpopulation ratio each year since the series began in 1976. Three states had the lowest employmentpopulation ratios in their series in 2014: Kentucky, 54.8 percent; Mississippi, 50.1 percent; and New 

Mexico, 53.6 percent. (See chart 3.) 

_____________ 

The Regional and State Employment and Unemployment news release for January 2015 is 

scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The Metropolitan 

Area Employment and Unemployment news release for January 2015 is scheduled to be released 

on Friday, March 20, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). 
Technical Note 

This release presents labor force and unemployment data 

for census regions and divisions and states from the Local 

Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. The 

LAUS program is a federal-state cooperative endeavor. 

Concepts 

Definitions. The labor force and unemployment data are 

based on the same concepts and definitions as those used 

for the official national estimates obtained from the Current 

Population Survey (CPS), a sample survey of households 

that is conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

by the U.S. Census Bureau. The LAUS program measures 

employment and unemployment on a place-of-residence 

basis. The universe for each is the civilian noninstitutional 

population 16 years of age and older. Employed persons are 

those who did any work at all for pay or profit in the 

reference week (the week including the 12th of the month) 

or worked 15 hours or more without pay in a family 

business or farm, plus those not working who had a job 

from which they were temporarily absent, whether or not 

paid, for such reasons as labor management dispute, 

illness, or vacation. Unemployed persons are those who 

were not employed during the reference week (based on the 

definition above), had actively looked for a job sometime 

in the 4-week period ending with the reference week, and 

were currently available for work; persons on layoff 

expecting recall need not be looking for work to be counted 

as unemployed. The labor force is the sum of employed 

and unemployed persons. The unemployment rate is the 

number of unemployed expressed as a percent of the labor 

force. The employment-population ratio is the proportion 

of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age 

and older that is employed. 

Method of estimation. Estimates for 48 of the 50 states, 

the District of Columbia, the Los Angeles-Long BeachGlendale metropolitan division, New York City, and the 

balances of California and New York State are produced 

using estimating equations based on regression techniques. 

This method utilizes data from several sources, including 

the CPS, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey 

of nonfarm payroll employment, and state unemployment 

insurance (UI) programs. Estimates for the State of 

California are derived by summing the estimates for the 

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metropolitan division 

and the balance of California. Similarly, estimates for New 

York State are derived by summing the estimates for New 

York City and the balance of New York State. Estimates 

for all nine census divisions are based on a similar 

regression approach that does not incorporate CES or UI 

data. Estimates for census regions are obtained by 

summing the model-based estimates for the component 

divisions and then calculating the unemployment rate. 

Each month, census division estimates are controlled to 

national totals; state estimates are then controlled to their 

respective division totals. Estimates for Puerto Rico are 

derived from a monthly household survey similar to the 

CPS. A detailed description of the estimation procedures is 

available from BLS upon request. 

Annual revisions. Labor force and unemployment data for 

prior years reflect adjustments made at the end of each 

year. The adjusted estimates incorporate updated 

population controls from the U.S. Census Bureau, any 

revisions in the other data sources, and model reestimation. The population controls (except for Puerto 

Rico) reflect extrapolation from the 2010 Census. In most 

years, historical data for the most recent 5 years (both 

seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted) are 

revised near the beginning of each calendar year, prior to 

the release of January estimates. Though the labor force 

estimates typically are updated for 5 years, the population 

estimates are adjusted back to the decennial estimates base 

(April 2010). With the introduction of a new generation of 

times-series models in 2015, historical data were reestimated back to January 1976 for regions, divisions, 

states, the District of Columbia, the Los Angeles-Long 

Beach-Glendale metropolitan division, New York City, 

and the balances of California and New York states. 

Reliability of the estimates 

The estimates presented in this release are based on sample 

surveys, administrative data, and modeling and, thus, are 

subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling 

error is a measure of sampling variability—that is, 

variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather 

than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data also are 

subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be 

introduced into the data collection and processing 

operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample 

surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the 

specific estimation processes used. In table 1, level 

estimates for states may not sum to level estimates for 

regions and divisions because of rounding. Unemployment 

rates and employment-population ratios are computed from 

unrounded levels and, thus, may differ slightly from rates 

and ratios computed using the rounded level estimates 

displayed in table 1. 

Additional information 

Information in this release will be made available to 

sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 

(202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339. 
Table 1. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state,

2013–14 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)

Population Civilian labor force Employed Unemployed Unemployment rate

2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014

United States ....................... 245,679 247,947 155,389 155,922 143,929 146,305 11,460 9,617 7.4 6.2 6.1 – 6.2 

Northeast ............................... 44,673 44,875 28,343 28,251 26,221 26,518 2,121 1,733 7.5 6.1 6.0 – 6.3 

New England ....................... 11,779 11,848 7,735 7,785 7,202 7,327 533 458 6.9 5.9 5.6 – 6.2 

Connecticut ...................... 2,858 2,867 1,869 1,885 1,724 1,760 145 125 7.7 6.6 6.1 – 7.1 

Maine ................................ 1,086 1,090 707 699 660 659 47 40 6.6 5.7 5.2 – 6.2 

Massachusetts ................. 5,401 5,446 3,509 3,557 3,272 3,353 237 205 6.7 5.8 5.2 – 6.3 

New Hampshire ................ 1,072 1,079 742 741 704 709 38 32 5.1 4.3 3.9 – 4.7 

Rhode Island .................... 849 852 557 553 505 511 52 42 9.3 7.7 7.1 – 8.2 

Vermont ............................ 513 514 351 349 336 335 16 14 4.4 4.1 3.7 – 4.5 

Middle Atlantic ..................... 32,894 33,027 20,608 20,466 19,019 19,191 1,589 1,275 7.7 6.2 6.0 – 6.5 

New Jersey ....................... 7,018 7,057 4,534 4,519 4,164 4,218 370 300 8.2 6.6 6.1 – 7.1 

New York .......................... 15,693 15,765 9,632 9,569 8,891 8,964 741 605 7.7 6.3 6.0 – 6.7 

Pennsylvania .................... 10,183 10,205 6,442 6,378 5,964 6,009 478 370 7.4 5.8 5.4 – 6.2 

Midwest .................................. 52,605 52,869 34,301 34,443 31,831 32,429 2,471 2,014 7.2 5.8 5.7 – 6.0 

East North Central .............. 36,472 36,621 23,286 23,319 21,390 21,817 1,896 1,502 8.1 6.4 6.2 – 6.7 

Illinois ................................ 10,026 10,053 6,555 6,525 5,961 6,064 594 460 9.1 7.1 6.6 – 7.5 

Indiana .............................. 5,065 5,097 3,192 3,231 2,947 3,036 245 195 7.7 6.0 5.5 – 6.6 

Michigan ........................... 7,814 7,846 4,728 4,750 4,306 4,402 422 348 8.9 7.3 6.8 – 7.8 

Ohio .................................. 9,056 9,092 5,726 5,719 5,299 5,392 427 328 7.5 5.7 5.3 – 6.2 

Wisconsin ......................... 4,511 4,534 3,085 3,094 2,877 2,924 208 170 6.8 5.5 5.0 – 6.0 

West North Central ............. 16,133 16,248 11,016 11,124 10,441 10,611 575 512 5.2 4.6 4.4 – 4.8 

Iowa .................................. 2,405 2,420 1,674 1,705 1,594 1,629 80 75 4.8 4.4 4.0 – 4.9 

Kansas .............................. 2,185 2,197 1,487 1,500 1,408 1,432 79 68 5.3 4.5 4.0 – 5.1 

Minnesota ......................... 4,225 4,259 2,966 2,974 2,819 2,852 146 122 4.9 4.1 3.7 – 4.5 

Missouri ............................ 4,693 4,719 3,016 3,058 2,814 2,871 202 187 6.7 6.1 5.6 – 6.7 

Nebraska .......................... 1,424 1,434 1,022 1,022 983 988 39 34 3.8 3.3 2.9 – 3.7 

North Dakota .................... 559 572 407 416 395 405 12 12 2.9 2.8 2.4 – 3.2 

South Dakota ................... 641 647 445 448 428 433 17 15 3.8 3.4 3.0 – 3.8 

South ...................................... 91,329 92,479 56,781 56,996 52,792 53,580 3,989 3,416 7.0 6.0 5.9 – 6.1 

South Atlantic ...................... 48,388 49,000 30,078 30,240 27,897 28,359 2,181 1,881 7.3 6.2 6.0 – 6.4 

Delaware .......................... 728 738 442 452 413 426 30 26 6.7 5.7 5.2 – 6.2 

District of Columbia .......... 537 543 373 377 342 348 32 29 8.5 7.8 7.2 – 8.4 

Florida ............................... 15,715 15,978 9,473 9,638 8,783 9,034 690 603 7.3 6.3 5.9 – 6.6 

Georgia ............................. 7,575 7,669 4,759 4,757 4,368 4,414 391 342 8.2 7.2 6.6 – 7.8 

Maryland ........................... 4,649 4,684 3,124 3,111 2,917 2,930 207 181 6.6 5.8 5.4 – 6.3 

North Carolina .................. 7,595 7,690 4,681 4,656 4,310 4,370 370 286 7.9 6.1 5.6 – 6.7 

South Carolina ................. 3,708 3,762 2,180 2,198 2,013 2,056 167 141 7.6 6.4 5.8 – 7.0 

Virginia .............................. 6,394 6,451 4,246 4,261 4,005 4,041 241 220 5.7 5.2 4.7 – 5.6 

West Virginia .................... 1,486 1,485 800 790 746 739 54 52 6.7 6.5 5.8 – 7.2 

East South Central .............. 14,506 14,602 8,581 8,403 7,909 7,830 672 573 7.8 6.8 6.5 – 7.2 

Alabama ........................... 3,767 3,786 2,169 2,150 2,012 2,004 157 146 7.2 6.8 6.0 – 7.6 

Kentucky ........................... 3,406 3,425 2,057 2,005 1,892 1,875 165 130 8.0 6.5 5.8 – 7.2 

Mississippi ........................ 2,265 2,274 1,274 1,236 1,163 1,140 111 96 8.7 7.8 6.9 – 8.7 

Tennessee ........................ 5,068 5,117 3,082 3,011 2,842 2,811 239 201 7.8 6.7 6.0 – 7.3 

West South Central ............ 28,435 28,877 18,122 18,353 16,987 17,392 1,135 962 6.3 5.2 5.0 – 5.5 

Arkansas .......................... 2,275 2,285 1,307 1,301 1,211 1,221 96 80 7.4 6.1 5.4 – 6.9 

Louisiana .......................... 3,528 3,551 2,107 2,157 1,965 2,020 142 138 6.7 6.4 5.6 – 7.1 

Oklahoma ......................... 2,922 2,946 1,803 1,784 1,707 1,704 96 80 5.3 4.5 3.9 – 5.1 

Texas ................................ 19,711 20,095 12,905 13,112 12,104 12,448 801 664 6.2 5.1 4.8 – 5.3 

West ....................................... 57,430 58,201 36,189 36,529 33,293 34,057 2,896 2,473 8.0 6.8 6.6 – 6.9 

Mountain .............................. 17,448 17,723 11,130 11,252 10,352 10,601 777 652 7.0 5.8 5.5 – 6.0 

Arizona ............................. 5,087 5,176 3,041 3,091 2,804 2,878 237 213 7.8 6.9 6.2 – 7.6 

Colorado ........................... 4,069 4,145 2,780 2,817 2,591 2,676 189 141 6.8 5.0 4.6 – 5.5 

Idaho ................................. 1,210 1,228 771 777 724 740 47 37 6.1 4.8 4.2 – 5.4 

Montana ............................ 800 808 514 516 486 492 28 24 5.4 4.7 4.1 – 5.3 

Nevada ............................. 2,169 2,210 1,384 1,395 1,252 1,286 132 108 9.5 7.8 7.1 – 8.4 

New Mexico ...................... 1,597 1,601 923 918 859 858 64 60 6.9 6.5 5.8 – 7.3 

Utah .................................. 2,068 2,104 1,410 1,431 1,344 1,377 66 54 4.7 3.8 3.3 – 4.3 

Wyoming .......................... 449 451 307 307 292 294 15 13 4.7 4.3 3.8 – 4.8 

Pacific .................................. 39,982 40,478 25,059 25,277 22,941 23,456 2,119 1,821 8.5 7.2 7.0 – 7.4 

Alaska ............................... 539 541 366 367 340 342 25 25 6.9 6.8 5.7 – 7.9 

California .......................... 29,788 30,158 18,672 18,811 17,003 17,397 1,669 1,414 8.9 7.5 7.3 – 7.8 

Hawaii ............................... 1,075 1,084 651 668 620 639 32 29 4.8 4.4 3.9 – 4.8 

Oregon .............................. 3,132 3,171 1,911 1,942 1,761 1,807 150 135 7.9 6.9 6.3 – 7.6 

Washington ...................... 5,447 5,524 3,460 3,488 3,217 3,270 243 218 7.0 6.2 5.7 – 6.8 

Puerto Rico ............................ 2,897 2,875 1,189 1,152 1,019 992 170 160 14.3 13.9 NA

Region, division, and state Error range of rate, 

2014 1

1 Error ranges are shown at the 90-percent confidence level and are based on unrounded data. 

NA = Data not available.

NOTE: Data refer to place of residence. Unemployment rates are in percent and are based on

unrounded levels. Data for subnational areas reflect revised population controls and model 

reestimation. As a result, they will not add to U.S. totals. Data for Puerto Rico are derived 

from a monthly household survey similar to the Current Population Survey.
Table 2. Employment-population ratios of persons 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state,

2013–14 annual averages

(Percent)

Employment-population ratio 1

2013 2014

United States ................................................................ 58.6 59.0 0.4 58.8 – 59.2 

Northeast ......................................................................... 58.7 59.1 .4 58.6 – 59.5 

New England ................................................................ 61.1 61.8 .7 61.1 – 62.6 

Connecticut ................................................................ 60.3 61.4 1.1 60.1 – 62.7 

Maine ......................................................................... 60.8 60.5 -.3 59.1 – 61.8 

Massachusetts .......................................................... 60.6 61.6 1.0 60.1 – 63.0 

New Hampshire ......................................................... 65.7 65.7 .0 64.6 – 66.9 

Rhode Island ............................................................. 59.5 59.9 .4 58.8 – 61.1 

Vermont ..................................................................... 65.4 65.0 -.4 63.7 – 66.4 

Middle Atlantic .............................................................. 57.8 58.1 .3 57.6 – 58.7 

New Jersey ................................................................ 59.3 59.8 .5 58.7 – 60.9 

New York ................................................................... 56.7 56.9 .2 56.0 – 57.7 

Pennsylvania ............................................................. 58.6 58.9 .3 58.0 – 59.8 

Midwest ........................................................................... 60.5 61.3 .8 60.9 – 61.8 

East North Central ....................................................... 58.6 59.6 1.0 59.0 – 60.1 

Illinois ......................................................................... 59.5 60.3 .8 59.3 – 61.3 

Indiana ....................................................................... 58.2 59.6 1.4 58.1 – 61.0 

Michigan .................................................................... 55.1 56.1 1.0 54.9 – 57.3 

Ohio ........................................................................... 58.5 59.3 .8 58.1 – 60.5 

Wisconsin .................................................................. 63.8 64.5 .7 63.0 – 66.0 

West North Central ...................................................... 64.7 65.3 .6 64.7 – 66.0 

Iowa ........................................................................... 66.3 67.3 1.0 66.0 – 68.7 

Kansas ....................................................................... 64.4 65.2 .8 63.7 – 66.7 

Minnesota .................................................................. 66.7 67.0 .3 65.7 – 68.3 

Missouri ..................................................................... 60.0 60.8 .8 59.2 – 62.4 

Nebraska ................................................................... 69.1 68.9 -.2 67.6 – 70.2 

North Dakota ............................................................. 70.6 70.8 .2 69.1 – 72.6 

South Dakota ............................................................. 66.8 66.9 .1 65.4 – 68.4 

South ............................................................................... 57.8 57.9 .1 57.6 – 58.3 

South Atlantic ............................................................... 57.7 57.9 .2 57.4 – 58.3 

Delaware .................................................................... 56.7 57.7 1.0 56.4 – 59.0 

District of Columbia ................................................... 63.7 64.0 .3 62.8 – 65.3 

Florida ........................................................................ 55.9 56.5 .6 55.6 – 57.5 

Georgia ...................................................................... 57.7 57.6 -.1 56.4 – 58.7 

Maryland .................................................................... 62.7 62.6 -.1 61.5 – 63.7 

North Carolina ........................................................... 56.8 56.8 .0 55.6 – 58.0 

South Carolina ........................................................... 54.3 54.7 .4 53.2 – 56.1 

Virginia ....................................................................... 62.6 62.6 .0 61.2 – 64.1 

West Virginia ............................................................. 50.2 49.7 -.5 47.7 – 51.8 

East South Central ....................................................... 54.5 53.6 -.9 52.7 – 54.5 

Alabama .................................................................... 53.4 52.9 -.5 51.1 – 54.8 

Kentucky .................................................................... 55.5 54.8 -.7 52.9 – 56.6 

Mississippi ................................................................. 51.3 50.1 -1.2 48.3 – 52.0 

Tennessee ................................................................. 56.1 54.9 -1.2 53.3 – 56.5 

West South Central ...................................................... 59.7 60.2 .5 59.5 – 60.9 

Arkansas .................................................................... 53.2 53.4 .2 51.8 – 55.0 

Louisiana ................................................................... 55.7 56.9 1.2 55.2 – 58.5 

Oklahoma .................................................................. 58.4 57.8 -.6 56.1 – 59.5 

Texas ......................................................................... 61.4 61.9 .5 61.1 – 62.8 

West ................................................................................ 58.0 58.5 .5 58.2 – 58.9 

Mountain ....................................................................... 59.3 59.8 .5 59.1 – 60.5 

Arizona ....................................................................... 55.1 55.6 .5 54.0 – 57.2 

Colorado .................................................................... 63.7 64.6 .9 63.0 – 66.1 

Idaho .......................................................................... 59.9 60.2 .3 58.5 – 62.0 

Montana ..................................................................... 60.7 60.9 .2 59.0 – 62.8 

Nevada ...................................................................... 57.8 58.2 .4 56.7 – 59.7 

New Mexico ............................................................... 53.8 53.6 -.2 51.8 – 55.4 

Utah ........................................................................... 65.0 65.4 .4 63.8 – 67.1 

Wyoming .................................................................... 65.0 65.1 .1 63.4 – 66.8 

Pacific ........................................................................... 57.4 57.9 .5 57.5 – 58.4 

Alaska ........................................................................ 63.1 63.3 .2 61.1 – 65.5 

California .................................................................... 57.1 57.7 .6 57.2 – 58.2 

Hawaii ........................................................................ 57.6 59.0 1.4 57.7 – 60.2 

Oregon ....................................................................... 56.2 57.0 .8 55.6 – 58.4 

Washington ............................................................... 59.1 59.2 .1 58.1 – 60.3 

Puerto Rico ..................................................................... 35.2 34.5 -.7

Region, division, and state Error range of ratio, 

2014 2

Over-the-year 

change

 NA

1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 

years of age and over.

2 Error ranges are shown at the 90-percent confidence level and are based 

on unrounded data. 

NA = Data not available.

NOTE: Data refer to place of residence. Employment-population 

ratios are based on unrounded levels. Data for subnational areas 

reflect revised population controls and model reestimation. Data for 

Puerto Rico are derived from a monthly household survey similar to the 

Current Population Survey.
TEXAS

N.M.

CALIF.

MONT.

NEV.

ARIZ.

ORE.

S.D.

WYO.

COLO. KAN. MO.

N.D.

NEB.

UTAH

GA.

ILL.

MINN.

LA.

IDAHO

FLA.

PA.

WIS.

N.Y.

OKLA.

N.C.

KY.

ALA.

VA.

ARK.

WASH.

IOWA

MISS.

IND.

OHIO

S.C.

MICH.

TENN.

MAINE

W.VA.

VT. N.H.

 0.0 to -0.4 point

-0.5 to -0.9 point

-1.0 to -1.4 points

-1.5 to -1.9 points

-2.0 points or more

MD.

DEL.

MASS.

N.J.

CONN. R.I.

D.C.

HAWAII

ALASKA

Pacific

Mountain

West

North Central

East

North Central

New England

Middle

Atlantic

South

Atlantic

East

South Central

West

South Central

Chart 1. Over-the-year change in unemployment rates by state,

2014 annual averages

(U.S. change = -1.2 percentage points)
TEXAS

N.M.

CALIF.

MONT.

NEV.

ARIZ.

ORE.

S.D.

WYO.

COLO. KAN. MO.

N.D.

NEB.

UTAH

GA.

ILL.

MINN.

LA.

IDAHO

FLA.

PA.

WIS.

N.Y.

OKLA.

N.C.

KY.

ALA.

VA.

ARK.

WASH.

IOWA

MISS.

IND.

OHIO

S.C.

MICH.

TENN.

MAINE

W.VA.

VT. N.H.

7.0% or higher

6.0% to 6.9%

5.0% to 5.9%

4.0% to 4.9%

3.9% or lower

MD.

DEL.

MASS.

N.J.

CONN. R.I.

D.C.

HAWAII

ALASKA

Pacific

Mountain

West

North Central

East

North Central

New England

Middle

Atlantic

South

Atlantic

East

South Central

West

South Central

Chart 2. Unemployment rates by state, 2014 annual averages

(U.S. rate = 6.2 percent)
TEXAS

N.M.

CALIF.

MONT.

NEV.

ARIZ.

ORE.

S.D.

WYO.

COLO. KAN. MO.

N.D.

NEB.

UTAH

GA.

ILL.

MINN.

LA.

IDAHO

FLA.

PA.

WIS.

N.Y.

OKLA.

N.C.

KY.

ALA.

VA.

ARK.

WASH.

IOWA

MISS.

IND.

OHIO

S.C.

MICH.

TENN.

MAINE

W.VA.

VT. N.H.

62.0% or higher

57.0% to 61.9%

56.9% or lower

MD.

DEL.

MASS.

N.J.

CONN. R.I.

D.C.

HAWAII

ALASKA

Pacific

Mountain

West

North Central

East

North Central

New England

Middle

Atlantic

South

Atlantic

East

South Central

West

South Central

Chart 3. Employment-population ratios by state, 

2014 annual averages

(U.S. ratio= 59.0 percent)