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                                         For release:  10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact:                691-5902   Friday, February 23, 2001


           STATE AND REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT, 2000 ANNUAL AVERAGES
   
   
   Unemployment rates decreased in 33 states and the District of Columbia
from 1999 to 2000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of
Labor reported today.  Three of the four regions and seven of the nine
geographic divisions recorded rate declines in annual average unemployment.
The U.S. jobless rate decreased from 4.2 percent to 4.0 percent over the
year.  Additionally, employment to population ratios increased in a
majority of states, with the national ratio increasing to a record high of
64.5 percent.
   
State Unemployment
   
   As the national unemployment rate reached its lowest point in 31 years,
14 states had the lowest annual average rates in their series.  (All state
series date back to at least 1976.)  The 14 included 4 states in the
Mountain division, 3 each in New England and the South Atlantic, and 2 in
the East North Central.
   
   Compared with 1999, annual average jobless rates in 2000 were lower in
33 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 16 states, and unchanged
in 1 state.  (See table 1 and chart 1.)  The states posting the largest rate
declines were Hawaii (-1.3 percentage points), West Virginia (-1.1 points),
and Wyoming (-1.0 point).  Twelve additional states plus the District of
Columbia recorded decreases of at least 0.5 percentage point.  Eight large
states--California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
Texas, and Virginia--registered annual declines for at least each of the last
seven years.  The largest rate increases occurred in Kansas (0.7 percentage
point) and Mississippi (0.6 point).  Four other states had increases of
0.5 percentage point each.
   
   Virginia reported the lowest annual average unemployment rate for 2000,
2.2 percent, followed closely by Connecticut and South Dakota, both
2.3 percent.  Five other states--three of them in New England--had rates
below 3.0 percent in 2000.  Alaska recorded the highest jobless rate,
6.6 percent, followed by Mississippi, 5.7 percent.  The District of
Columbia's rate was 5.8 percent.  Overall, 28 states had unemployment rates
below the national average, while 21 states and the District of Columbia
posted higher rates.  (See chart 2.)  All seven states in the West North
Central division and five of the six states in New England had rates below
the U.S. average, while all five states in the Pacific division recorded
rates above it.
   
Regional Unemployment
   
   The Northeast region had the largest rate decline from 1999 (-0.5
percentage point), while the South and West posted smaller decreases.
These three regions all had the lowest annual average rates in their series.
(Regional series date back to 1976.)  For the 10th year in a row, the Midwest
had the lowest regional jobless rate (3.7 percent), although it edged up over
last year's rate.  The West registered the highest unemployment rate
(4.6 percent) for the eighth consecutive year, although four states in the
region reported rates below 4.0 percent.  The range between the high and low
regional unemployment rates narrowed to less than a full percentage point for
the first time since 1991.

                                  - 2 -

   Among the nation's nine geographic divisions, the two divisions in the
Northeast region--the Middle Atlantic and New England--reported the largest
rate declines from the previous year, -0.5 percentage point each.  The
Mountain division in the West region posted the next largest decrease,
-0.4 point.  The two Midwest divisions--the East North Central and West
North Central--recorded small rate increases.  Unemployment rates in the
seven divisions that recorded over-the-year declines reached new annual lows.
In 2000, New England replaced the West North Central as the division with the
lowest unemployment rate (2.8 percent) after the latter division had recorded
the lowest rate for 10 years.  For the ninth consecutive year, the Pacific
division had the highest jobless rate (5.0 percent), but its annual rate
continued to decline in 2000 for the seventh year in a row.
   
Employment-population Ratios
   
   Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia experienced rises in
their employment-population ratios--the proportion of the civilian non-
institutional population age 16 and over with a job--in 2000, while 19
states had declines.  The national employment-population ratio edged up
0.2 percentage point from 1999 to a record high 64.5 percent annual average
in 2000.  The greatest over-the-year gains were reported in Delaware
(2.1 percentage points) and Mississippi (2.0 percentage points), with an
additional nine states recording increases of at least a full percentage
point.  The largest decrease occurred in Kansas (-2.1 percentage points),
with four other states showing declines of more than 1.0 percentage point.
Minnesota once again registered the highest annual average employment-
population ratio, 72.6 percent, despite a 0.4-percentage point drop from
1999.  West Virginia continued to have the lowest ratio among the states,
53.9 percent, even after a 1.2-percentage point increase over 1999.
Overall, 31 states had employment-population ratios above the U.S. average,
while 19 states and the District of Columbia had lower ratios.  (See table
2 and chart 3.)
   
   All four regions experienced small gains in their annual average
employment-population ratios over 1999, ranging from 0.4 percentage point
in the West to 0.1 point in the Midwest.  Regional ratios were above the
national average in the Midwest (67.4 percent) and West (64.7 percent) and
below average in the South (63.4 percent) and Northeast (62.8 percent).
Among geographic divisions, the South Atlantic and Pacific saw the largest
ratio increases, 0.5 percentage point each, relative to 1999.  The West
South Central and Mountain were the only two divisions to record declines
in their ratios over the year (-0.4 and -0.1 percentage point, respectively).
Ratios among the seven states of the West North Central division were above
that of the U.S., while ratios among all three states of the Middle Atlantic
and all four states of the East South Central were below that of the U.S.
  
   All estimates presented in this release, except those for Puerto Rico,
were derived from the Current Population Survey, a sample survey of about
50,000 households conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by
the U.S. Census Bureau.  A description of the survey and information about
the reliability of the state estimates appear in Geographic Profile of
Employment and Unemployment, 1998, Bulletin 2524.  The length of the annual
series varies by state and ranges from 25 to 31 years.  The region and
division annual series begin in 1976.
   
   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message referral
phone number:  1-800-877-8339.
Table 1. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over by region, division, and state, 
1999-2000 annual averages

(Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                   Population      Civilian labor       Employed         Unemployed     Unemployment   
                                                       force                                                rate      Error range     
       Region, division,                                                                                                of rate,
          and state                                                                                                     2000(1)          
                                 1999     2000     1999     2000     1999     2000      1999     2000    1999   2000              
                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                 
          United States(2)....  207,753  209,699  139,368  140,863  133,488  135,208    5,880    5,655    4.2    4.0  3.9  -  4.1
                                                                                                                                 
Northeast.....................   40,105   40,247   26,234   26,295   25,083   25,281    1,151    1,014    4.4    3.9  3.8  -  4.0
   New England................   10,439   10,502    7,171    7,194    6,935    6,995      236      199    3.3    2.8  2.6  -  3.0
      Connecticut.............    2,530    2,537    1,708    1,746    1,654    1,707       54       39    3.2    2.3  1.8  -  2.8
      Maine...................      987      998      670      689      642      665       27       24    4.1    3.5  3.0  -  4.0
      Massachusetts...........    4,781    4,804    3,284    3,237    3,179    3,151      105       86    3.2    2.6  2.3  -  2.9
      New Hampshire...........      924      939      668      686      650      666       18       19    2.7    2.8  2.3  -  3.3
      Rhode Island............      751      753      504      505      484      484       21       21    4.1    4.1  3.5  -  4.7
      Vermont.................      466      471      336      332      326      322       10       10    3.0    2.9  2.4  -  3.4
                                                                                                                                 
   Middle Atlantic............   29,666   29,745   19,063   19,101   18,148   18,286      915      815    4.8    4.3  4.1  -  4.5
      New Jersey..............    6,264    6,292    4,205    4,188    4,012    4,030      193      157    4.6    3.8  3.5  -  4.1
      New York................   14,120   14,163    8,882    8,941    8,423    8,533      459      408    5.2    4.6  4.3  -  4.9
      Pennsylvania............    9,282    9,290    5,976    5,972    5,713    5,722      263      250    4.4    4.2  3.9  -  4.5
                                                                                                                                 
Midwest.......................   47,946   48,222   33,442   33,729   32,244   32,493    1,198    1,236    3.6    3.7  3.6  -  3.8
   East North Central.........   33,764   33,931   23,242   23,422   22,348   22,517      894      905    3.8    3.9  3.7  -  4.1
      Illinois................    9,155    9,199    6,378    6,419    6,105    6,140      273      279    4.3    4.4  4.1  -  4.7
      Indiana.................    4,504    4,529    3,076    3,084    2,983    2,984       93      100    3.0    3.2  2.7  -  3.7
      Michigan................    7,505    7,548    5,144    5,201    4,950    5,016      194      185    3.8    3.6  3.3  -  3.9
      Ohio....................    8,605    8,624    5,754    5,783    5,508    5,546      246      237    4.3    4.1  3.8  -  4.4
      Wisconsin...............    3,995    4,031    2,890    2,935    2,802    2,831       88      104    3.0    3.5  3.0  -  4.0
                                                                                                                                 
   West North Central.........   14,182   14,291   10,200   10,307    9,896    9,976      303      331    3.0    3.2  3.0  -  3.4
      Iowa....................    2,187    2,193    1,573    1,563    1,533    1,522       40       41    2.5    2.6  2.2  -  3.0
      Kansas..................    1,988    2,001    1,434    1,411    1,392    1,359       43       52    3.0    3.7  3.2  -  4.2
      Minnesota...............    3,600    3,648    2,703    2,739    2,627    2,649       76       90    2.8    3.3  2.8  -  3.8
      Missouri................    4,135    4,166    2,841    2,930    2,745    2,828       96      101    3.4    3.5  3.0  -  4.0
      Nebraska................    1,248    1,254      912      924      886      897       26       28    2.9    3.0  2.5  -  3.5
      North Dakota............      478      477      337      339      325      329       11       10    3.4    3.0  2.5  -  3.5
      South Dakota............      546      552      400      401      388      392       12        9    2.9    2.3  1.9  -  2.7
                                                                                                                                 
South.........................   73,427   74,337   48,406   49,035   46,412   47,104    1,994    1,931    4.1    3.9  3.8  -  4.0
   South Atlantic.............   38,033   38,528   25,060   25,534   24,123   24,624      937      910    3.7    3.6  3.4  -  3.8
      Delaware................      581      588      390      409      376      393       14       16    3.5    4.0  3.4  -  4.6
      District of 
       Columbia...............      415      413      281      279      263      263       18       16    6.3    5.8  5.1  -  6.5
      Florida.................   11,783   11,960    7,361    7,490    7,077    7,221      284      269    3.9    3.6  3.3  -  3.9
      Georgia.................    5,859    5,967    4,078    4,173    3,916    4,019      162      154    4.0    3.7  3.3  -  4.1
      Maryland................    3,975    4,015    2,775    2,805    2,676    2,697       98      108    3.5    3.9  3.4  -  4.4
      North Carolina..........    5,755    5,809    3,868    3,958    3,746    3,814      122      144    3.2    3.6  3.2  -  4.0
      South Carolina..........    2,992    3,032    1,963    1,985    1,875    1,909       88       77    4.5    3.9  3.4  -  4.4
      Virginia................    5,226    5,299    3,528    3,610    3,430    3,530       98       80    2.8    2.2  1.8  -  2.6
      West Virginia...........    1,447    1,445      816      825      763      779       54       46    6.6    5.5  4.9  -  6.1
                                                                                                                                 
   East South Central.........   12,763   12,853    8,190    8,261    7,823    7,895      368      366    4.5    4.4  4.1  -  4.7
      Alabama.................    3,384    3,401    2,141    2,154    2,039    2,055      102       99    4.8    4.6  4.0  -  5.2
      Kentucky................    3,057    3,082    1,967    1,982    1,879    1,900       88       82    4.5    4.1  3.6  -  4.6
      Mississippi.............    2,073    2,086    1,268    1,326    1,203    1,251       65       75    5.1    5.7  5.1  -  6.3
      Tennessee...............    4,249    4,284    2,816    2,798    2,702    2,688      113      110    4.0    3.9  3.4  -  4.4
                                                                                                                                 
   West South Central.........   22,631   22,956   15,155   15,240   14,466   14,585      688      655    4.5    4.3  4.1  -  4.5
      Arkansas................    1,957    1,977    1,229    1,238    1,174    1,183       55       55    4.5    4.4  3.8  -  5.0
      Louisiana...............    3,278    3,289    2,052    2,030    1,948    1,917      104      112    5.1    5.5  4.9  -  6.1
      Oklahoma................    2,540    2,558    1,655    1,648    1,598    1,598       57       50    3.4    3.0  2.6  -  3.4
      Texas...................   14,856   15,132   10,219   10,325    9,747    9,887      472      437    4.6    4.2  3.9  -  4.5
                                                                                                                                 
West..........................   46,129   46,891   31,191   31,806   29,658   30,333    1,533    1,473    4.9    4.6  4.4  -  4.8
   Mountain...................   12,802   13,033    8,847    8,949    8,478    8,614      369      336    4.2    3.8  3.6  -  4.0
      Arizona.................    3,563    3,626    2,359    2,347    2,255    2,256      104       91    4.4    3.9  3.4  -  4.4
      Colorado................    3,080    3,141    2,264    2,276    2,198    2,213       66       63    2.9    2.7  2.3  -  3.1
      Idaho...................      934      951      651      658      617      626       34       32    5.2    4.9  4.3  -  5.5
      Montana.................      685      691      474      479      449      456       25       24    5.2    4.9  4.3  -  5.5
      Nevada..................    1,363    1,408      942      986      900      946       42       40    4.4    4.1  3.6  -  4.6
      New Mexico..............    1,306    1,318      809      833      764      792       45       40    5.6    4.9  4.3  -  5.5
      Utah....................    1,503    1,527    1,086    1,104    1,046    1,068       41       36    3.7    3.2  2.8  -  3.6
      Wyoming.................      368      371      262      267      249      257       13       10    4.9    3.9  3.4  -  4.4
                                                                                                                                 
   Pacific....................   33,327   33,858   22,344   22,856   21,180   21,719    1,164    1,137    5.2    5.0  4.8  -  5.2
      Alaska..................      434      438      319      322      299      301       20       21    6.4    6.6  5.9  -  7.3
      California..............   25,044   25,489   16,596   17,091   15,732   16,246      865      845    5.2    4.9  4.7  -  5.1
      Hawaii..................      885      889      593      595      560      570       33       26    5.6    4.3  3.7  -  4.9
      Oregon..................    2,583    2,608    1,761    1,803    1,661    1,715      100       87    5.7    4.9  4.3  -  5.5
      Washington..............    4,381    4,434    3,075    3,045    2,929    2,888      145      158    4.7    5.2  4.6  -  5.8
                                                                                                                                 
Puerto Rico(3)................    2,803    2,834    1,302    1,306    1,149    1,174      153      132   11.7   10.1      (4)    

  1 Error ranges are shown at the 90-percent confidence level.
  2 Because of separate processing and weighting procedures, totals for the United States differ from the results obtained by
aggregating data for regions, divisions, or states.
  3 The source of these data is the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources.
  4 Not available.
  NOTE:  Region and division data are derived from summing the component states.  Sub-national data incorporate updated 1990
census-based population controls.  Historical data have been revised.
Table 2. Employment-population ratio of persons 16 years of age and
over by region, division, and state, 1999-2000 annual averages

(Percent)

                           Employment-population ratio(1)

                                                     Over-the-year
Region, division, and state                              change

 
                               1999          2000


     United States .......     64.3          64.5         0.2

Northeast ................     62.5          62.8          .3
 New England .............     66.4          66.6          .2
  Connecticut ............     65.4          67.3         1.9
  Maine ..................     65.1          66.6         1.5
  Massachusetts ..........     66.5          65.6         -.9
  New Hampshire ..........     70.3          71.0          .7
  Rhode Island ...........     64.4          64.3         -.1
  Vermont ................     69.9          68.3        -1.6

 Middle Atlantic .........     61.2          61.5          .3
  New Jersey .............     64.1          64.1          .0
  New York ...............     59.7          60.3          .6
  Pennsylvania ...........     61.6          61.6          .0

Midwest ..................     67.3          67.4          .1
 East North Central ......     66.2          66.4          .2
  Illinois ...............     66.7          66.7          .0
  Indiana ................     66.2          65.9         -.3
  Michigan ...............     66.0          66.5          .5
  Ohio ...................     64.0          64.3          .3
  Wisconsin ..............     70.1          70.2          .1

 West North Central ......     69.8          69.8          .0
  Iowa ...................     70.1          69.4         -.7
  Kansas .................     70.0          67.9        -2.1
  Minnesota ..............     73.0          72.6         -.4
  Missouri ...............     66.4          67.9         1.5
  Nebraska ...............     71.0          71.5          .5
  North Dakota ...........     68.1          68.9          .8
  South Dakota ...........     71.1          71.0         -.1

South ....................     63.2          63.4          .2
 South Atlantic ..........     63.4          63.9          .5
  Delaware ...............     64.7          66.8         2.1
  District Of Columbia ...     63.4          63.6          .2
  Florida ................     60.1          60.4          .3
  Georgia ................     66.8          67.4          .6
  Maryland ...............     67.3          67.2         -.1
  North Carolina .........     65.1          65.7          .6
  South Carolina .........     62.7          63.0          .3
  Virginia ...............     65.6          66.6         1.0
  West Virginia ..........     52.7          53.9         1.2

 East South Central ......     61.3          61.4          .1
  Alabama ................     60.3          60.4          .1
  Kentucky ...............     61.5          61.7          .2
  Mississippi ............     58.0          60.0         2.0
  Tennessee ..............     63.6          62.7         -.9

 West South Central ......     63.9          63.5         -.4
  Arkansas ...............     60.0          59.8         -.2
  Louisiana ..............     59.4          58.3        -1.1
  Oklahoma ...............     62.9          62.5         -.4
  Texas ..................     65.6          65.3         -.3

West .....................     64.3          64.7          .4
 Mountain ................     66.2          66.1         -.1
  Arizona ................     63.3          62.2        -1.1
  Colorado ...............     71.4          70.5         -.9
  Idaho ..................     66.1          65.8         -.3
  Montana ................     65.6          65.9          .3
  Nevada .................     66.0          67.2         1.2
  New Mexico .............     58.5          60.1         1.6
  Utah ...................     69.6          70.0          .4
  Wyoming ................     67.8          69.2         1.4

 Pacific .................     63.6          64.1          .5
  Alaska .................     68.8          68.6         -.2
  California .............     62.8          63.7          .9
  Hawaii .................     63.2          64.1          .9
  Oregon .................     64.3          65.8         1.5
  Washington .............     66.9          65.1        -1.8

Puerto Rico(2) .............   41.0          41.4          .4


 1 Employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional
population 16 years of age and over.
 2 The source of these data is the Puerto Rico Department of
Labor and Human Resources.