STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- SEPTEMBER 2020
Unemployment rates were lower in September in 30 states, higher in 8
states, and stable in 12 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. All 50 states and the
District had jobless rate increases from a year earlier. The national
unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage point over the month to
7.9 percent but was 4.4 points higher than in September 2019.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 30 states, decreased in 3
states, and was essentially unchanged in 17 states and the District
of Columbia in September 2020. Over the year, nonfarm payroll
employment decreased in 48 states and the District and was essentially
unchanged in 2 states.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly programs. The
civilian labor force and unemployment data are modeled based largely
on a survey of households. These data pertain to individuals by where
they reside. The employment data are from an establishment survey that
measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. These
data pertain to jobs on payrolls defined by where the establishments
are located. For more information about the concepts and statistical
methodologies used by these two programs, see the Technical Note.
Unemployment
Hawaii had the highest unemployment rate in September, 15.1 percent,
followed by Nevada, 12.6 percent. Nebraska had the lowest rate, 3.5
percent, followed by South Dakota, 4.1 percent, and Vermont, 4.2
percent. In total, 27 states had jobless rates lower than the U.S.
figure of 7.9 percent, 8 states had higher rates, and 15 states and
the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different
from that of the nation. (See tables A and 1.)
In September, the largest unemployment rate decrease occurred in New
Jersey (-4.4 percentage points). Rates declined over the month by at
least 2.0 percentage points in an additional six states. The largest
over-the-month jobless rate increases occurred in Hawaii (+2.1
percentage points) and Idaho (+1.9 points). (See table B.)
The largest unemployment rate increases from September 2019 occurred
in Hawaii (+12.4 percentage points) and Nevada (+8.9 points). The
smallest over-the-year rate increases occurred in Nebraska (+0.5
percentage point) and South Dakota (+0.7 point). (See table C.)
Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 30 states, decreased in 3
states, and was essentially unchanged in 17 states and the District
of Columbia in September 2020. The largest job gains occurred in New
York (+109,300), California (+96,000), and New Jersey (+60,200). The
largest percentage increase occurred in New Jersey (+1.6 percent),
followed by New York and Wyoming (+1.3 percent each). Employment
decreased in Indiana (-11,700, or -0.4 percent), Hawaii (-10,700, or
-2.0 percent), and Kansas (-7,200, or -0.5 percent). (See tables D
and 3.)
Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 48 states and
the District of Columbia and was essentially unchanged in 2 states.
The largest job declines occurred in California (-1,488,900), New York
(-1,102,800), and Texas (-583,600). The smallest declines occurred in
South Dakota (-13,000), Wyoming (-16,100), and Montana (-17,700). The
largest percentage declines occurred in Hawaii (-18.4 percent), New
York (-11.2 percent), and Michigan and Vermont (-9.6 percent each).
The smallest percentage declines occurred in Mississippi (-2.2 percent),
Nebraska (-2.5 percent), and South Dakota (-2.9 percent). (See table E.)
_____________
The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for
September is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 28, 2020,
at 10:00 a.m. (ET). The State Employment and Unemployment news release
for October is scheduled to be released on Friday, November 20, 2020,
at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
_____________________________________________________________________________
|									      |
|          Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on September 2020	      |
|                 Establishment and Household Survey Data		      |
|									      |
| BLS has continued to review all estimation and methodological procedures    |
| for the establishment survey, which included the review of data,	      |
| estimation processes, the application of the birth-death model, and	      |
| seasonal adjustment. Business births and deaths cannot be adequately	      |
| captured by the establishment survey as they occur. Therefore, the	      |
| Current Employment Statistics (CES) program uses a model to account for     |
| the relatively stable net employment change generated by business births    |
| and deaths. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the relationship between	      |
| business births and deaths is no longer stable. Typically, reports with     |
| zero employment are not included in estimation. For the August final and    |
| September preliminary estimates, CES included a portion of these reports    |
| in the estimates and made modifications to the birth-death model. In	      |
| addition for both months, the establishment survey included a portion of    |
| the reports that returned to reporting positive employment from reporting   |
| zero employment. For more information, see 				      |
| www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbd.htm.					      |
|									      |
| In the establishment survey, workers who are paid by their employer for     |
| all or any part of the pay period including the 12th of the month are	      |
| counted as employed, even if they were not actually at their jobs.	      |
| Workers who are temporarily or permanently absent from their jobs and are   |
| not being paid are not counted as employed, even if they are continuing     |
| to receive benefits. The length of the reference period does vary across    |
| the respondents in the establishment survey; one-third of businesses have   |
| a weekly pay period, slightly over 40 percent a bi-weekly, about 20 	      |
| percent semi-monthly, and a small amount monthly.			      |
|									      |
| For the September 2020 estimates of household employment and unemployment   |
| from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, BLS continued   |
| to implement level-shift outliers in the employment and/or unemployment     |
| inputs to the models, based on statistical evaluation of movements in each  |
| area's inputs. Both the Current Population Survey inputs, which serve as    |
| the primary inputs to the LAUS models, and the nonfarm payroll employment   |
| and unemployment insurance claims covariates were examined for outliers.    |
| The resulting implementation of level shifts preserved movements in the     |
| published estimates that the models otherwise would have discounted,	      |
| without requiring changes to how the models create estimates at other	      |
| points in the time series.						      |
|									      |
| To mitigate distortions due to the complex relationships between level      |
| shifts in the household survey and covariate inputs to the state models,    |
| BLS retained the same modifications to the LAUS seasonal adjustment and     |
| smoothing procedures that had been introduced during the May 2020 cycle.    |
| Specifically, level shifts were isolated from the estimation of seasonal    |
| factors, and the Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space filter was not used to    |
| smooth the seasonally adjusted estimates. It is anticipated that these      |
| modifications will be necessary for as long as complex outlier treatments   |
| are deemed necessary for the model inputs.				      |
|									      |
| The "Frequently asked questions" document at				      |
| www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-september-2020.htm     |
| extensively discusses the impact of a misclassification in the household    |
| survey on the national estimates for September 2020. Despite the	      |
| considerable decline in its degree relative to prior months, this	      |
| misclassification continued to be widespread geographically, with BLS	      |
| analysis indicating that most states again were affected to at least some   |
| extent. However, according to usual practice, the data from the household   |
| survey are accepted as recorded. To maintain data integrity, no ad hoc      |
| actions are taken to reclassify survey responses. Hence, the household      |
| survey estimates of employed and unemployed people that serve as the	      |
| primary inputs to the state models were affected to varying degrees by      |
| the misclassification, which in turn affected the official LAUS estimates   |
| for September 2020.							      |
|									      |
| Household data for Puerto Rico are not modeled, but rather are derived      |
| from a monthly household survey similar to the Current Population Survey.   |
| Due to the effects of the pandemic and efforts to contain the virus,	      |
| Puerto Rico had not been able to conduct its household survey for March     |
| or April 2020. Data collection resumed effective May 2020, and BLS resumed  |
| publication of the not seasonally adjusted data beginning with the June     |
| 2020 issuance of this news release on July 17, 2020. BLS is resuming	      |
| publication of the seasonally adjusted data beginning with this news	      |
| release issuance. The Puerto Rico Department of Labor has reported a 	      |
| misclassification in its household survey since May 2020 similar in nature  |
| to the misclassification in the Current Population Survey.		      |
|_____________________________________________________________________________|
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different
from that of the U.S., September 2020, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State                |          Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................|           7.9
|              
Alabama .............................|           6.6
Arizona .............................|           6.7
California ..........................|          11.0
Colorado ............................|           6.4
Georgia .............................|           6.4
Hawaii ..............................|          15.1
Idaho ...............................|           6.1
Illinois ............................|          10.2
Indiana .............................|           6.2
Iowa ................................|           4.7
|              
Kansas ..............................|           5.9
Kentucky ............................|           5.6
Maine ...............................|           6.1
Maryland ............................|           7.2
Massachusetts .......................|           9.6
Minnesota ...........................|           6.0
Missouri ............................|           4.9
Montana .............................|           5.3
Nebraska ............................|           3.5
Nevada ..............................|          12.6
|              
New Hampshire .......................|           6.0
New Jersey ..........................|           6.7
New Mexico ..........................|           9.4
New York ............................|           9.7
North Dakota ........................|           4.4
Oklahoma ............................|           5.3
Rhode Island ........................|          10.5
South Carolina ......................|           5.1
South Dakota ........................|           4.1
Tennessee ...........................|           6.3
|              
Utah ................................|           5.0
Vermont .............................|           4.2
Virginia ............................|           6.2
Wisconsin ...........................|           5.4
Wyoming .............................|           6.1
--------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Data are not preliminary.
(p) = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from August 2020 to September 2020, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
|          Rate         |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-month
State              |   August  | September |    change(p)
|    2020   |   2020(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................|     5.6   |     6.6   |       1.0
Arizona ........................|     5.9   |     6.7   |        .8
Delaware .......................|     8.9   |     8.2   |       -.7
Georgia ........................|     5.7   |     6.4   |        .7
Hawaii .........................|    13.0   |    15.1   |       2.1
Idaho ..........................|     4.2   |     6.1   |       1.9
Illinois .......................|    11.0   |    10.2   |       -.8
Iowa ...........................|     6.3   |     4.7   |      -1.6
Kansas .........................|     6.9   |     5.9   |      -1.0
Kentucky .......................|     7.5   |     5.6   |      -1.9
|           |           |          
Maine ..........................|     7.0   |     6.1   |       -.9
Massachusetts ..................|    11.4   |     9.6   |      -1.8
Minnesota ......................|     7.4   |     6.0   |      -1.4
Mississippi ....................|     7.8   |     7.1   |       -.7
Missouri .......................|     7.0   |     4.9   |      -2.1
Montana ........................|     5.8   |     5.3   |       -.5
Nebraska .......................|     4.0   |     3.5   |       -.5
Nevada .........................|    13.3   |    12.6   |       -.7
New Hampshire ..................|     6.6   |     6.0   |       -.6
New Jersey .....................|    11.1   |     6.7   |      -4.4
|           |           |          
New Mexico .....................|    11.4   |     9.4   |      -2.0
New York .......................|    12.5   |     9.7   |      -2.8
North Carolina .................|     6.5   |     7.3   |        .8
North Dakota ...................|     5.0   |     4.4   |       -.6
Ohio ...........................|     8.9   |     8.4   |       -.5
Oklahoma .......................|     5.7   |     5.3   |       -.4
Oregon .........................|     8.5   |     8.0   |       -.5
Pennsylvania ...................|    10.4   |     8.1   |      -2.3
Rhode Island ...................|    12.9   |    10.5   |      -2.4
South Carolina .................|     6.4   |     5.1   |      -1.3
|           |           |          
South Dakota ...................|     4.8   |     4.1   |       -.7
Tennessee ......................|     8.6   |     6.3   |      -2.3
Texas ..........................|     6.8   |     8.3   |       1.5
Utah ...........................|     4.1   |     5.0   |        .9
Vermont ........................|     4.8   |     4.2   |       -.6
Washington .....................|     8.4   |     7.8   |       -.6
Wisconsin ......................|     6.3   |     5.4   |       -.9
Wyoming ........................|     6.6   |     6.1   |       -.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from September 2019 to September 2020, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
|          Rate         |
|-----------|-----------|  Over-the-year
State              | September | September |    change(p)
|    2019   |   2020(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ........................|     2.7   |     6.6   |       3.9
Alaska .........................|     6.2   |     7.2   |       1.0
Arizona ........................|     4.6   |     6.7   |       2.1
Arkansas .......................|     3.6   |     7.3   |       3.7
California .....................|     3.9   |    11.0   |       7.1
Colorado .......................|     2.6   |     6.4   |       3.8
Connecticut ....................|     3.7   |     7.8   |       4.1
Delaware .......................|     3.9   |     8.2   |       4.3
District of Columbia ...........|     5.3   |     8.7   |       3.4
Florida ........................|     2.9   |     7.6   |       4.7
|           |           |          
Georgia ........................|     3.2   |     6.4   |       3.2
Hawaii .........................|     2.7   |    15.1   |      12.4
Idaho ..........................|     2.9   |     6.1   |       3.2
Illinois .......................|     3.7   |    10.2   |       6.5
Indiana ........................|     3.2   |     6.2   |       3.0
Iowa ...........................|     2.8   |     4.7   |       1.9
Kansas .........................|     3.1   |     5.9   |       2.8
Kentucky .......................|     4.3   |     5.6   |       1.3
Louisiana ......................|     5.1   |     8.1   |       3.0
Maine ..........................|     2.9   |     6.1   |       3.2
|           |           |          
Maryland .......................|     3.5   |     7.2   |       3.7
Massachusetts ..................|     2.8   |     9.6   |       6.8
Michigan .......................|     3.9   |     8.5   |       4.6
Minnesota ......................|     3.2   |     6.0   |       2.8
Mississippi ....................|     5.6   |     7.1   |       1.5
Missouri .......................|     3.3   |     4.9   |       1.6
Montana ........................|     3.5   |     5.3   |       1.8
Nebraska .......................|     3.0   |     3.5   |        .5
Nevada .........................|     3.7   |    12.6   |       8.9
New Hampshire ..................|     2.6   |     6.0   |       3.4
|           |           |          
New Jersey .....................|     3.6   |     6.7   |       3.1
New Mexico .....................|     4.8   |     9.4   |       4.6
New York .......................|     3.9   |     9.7   |       5.8
North Carolina .................|     3.7   |     7.3   |       3.6
North Dakota ...................|     2.4   |     4.4   |       2.0
Ohio ...........................|     4.1   |     8.4   |       4.3
Oklahoma .......................|     3.3   |     5.3   |       2.0
Oregon .........................|     3.5   |     8.0   |       4.5
Pennsylvania ...................|     4.6   |     8.1   |       3.5
Rhode Island ...................|     3.5   |    10.5   |       7.0
|           |           |          
South Carolina .................|     2.4   |     5.1   |       2.7
South Dakota ...................|     3.4   |     4.1   |        .7
Tennessee ......................|     3.3   |     6.3   |       3.0
Texas ..........................|     3.5   |     8.3   |       4.8
Utah ...........................|     2.5   |     5.0   |       2.5
Vermont ........................|     2.4   |     4.2   |       1.8
Virginia .......................|     2.7   |     6.2   |       3.5
Washington .....................|     4.1   |     7.8   |       3.7
West Virginia ..................|     5.0   |     8.6   |       3.6
Wisconsin ......................|     3.4   |     5.4   |       2.0
Wyoming ........................|     3.7   |     6.1   |       2.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
August 2020 to September 2020, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|             |             | Over-the-month change(p)
State              |    August   |  September  |---------------------------
|     2020    |   2020(p)   |    Level    |   Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alaska .......................|     297,000 |     300,600 |       3,600 |      1.2
California ...................|  15,886,300 |  15,982,300 |      96,000 |       .6
Colorado .....................|   2,651,800 |   2,665,200 |      13,400 |       .5
Connecticut ..................|   1,568,100 |   1,585,100 |      17,000 |      1.1
Florida ......................|   8,485,200 |   8,532,500 |      47,300 |       .6
Georgia ......................|   4,441,200 |   4,461,400 |      20,200 |       .5
Hawaii .......................|     545,600 |     534,900 |     -10,700 |     -2.0
Indiana ......................|   3,045,200 |   3,033,500 |     -11,700 |      -.4
Iowa .........................|   1,492,200 |   1,499,500 |       7,300 |       .5
Kansas .......................|   1,367,600 |   1,360,400 |      -7,200 |      -.5
|             |             |             |       
Maine ........................|     582,000 |     586,700 |       4,700 |       .8
Maryland .....................|   2,585,500 |   2,603,700 |      18,200 |       .7
Massachusetts ................|   3,305,100 |   3,342,000 |      36,900 |      1.1
Michigan .....................|   3,994,700 |   4,013,100 |      18,400 |       .5
Minnesota ....................|   2,764,200 |   2,779,000 |      14,800 |       .5
Mississippi ..................|   1,124,400 |   1,131,900 |       7,500 |       .7
Missouri .....................|   2,771,500 |   2,784,500 |      13,000 |       .5
Montana ......................|     464,600 |     467,700 |       3,100 |       .7
Nebraska .....................|     992,400 |   1,000,400 |       8,000 |       .8
New Jersey ...................|   3,818,000 |   3,878,200 |      60,200 |      1.6
|             |             |             |       
New Mexico ...................|     798,100 |     802,400 |       4,300 |       .5
New York .....................|   8,601,000 |   8,710,300 |     109,300 |      1.3
North Carolina ...............|   4,268,100 |   4,316,200 |      48,100 |      1.1
Ohio .........................|   5,146,700 |   5,188,200 |      41,500 |       .8
Pennsylvania .................|   5,578,400 |   5,597,800 |      19,400 |       .3
South Carolina ...............|   2,094,900 |   2,119,700 |      24,800 |      1.2
South Dakota .................|     423,200 |     428,100 |       4,900 |      1.2
Tennessee ....................|   2,989,000 |   3,000,100 |      11,100 |       .4
Texas ........................|  12,224,500 |  12,265,200 |      40,700 |       .3
Utah .........................|   1,539,600 |   1,552,400 |      12,800 |       .8
|             |             |             |       
Vermont ......................|     282,200 |     285,000 |       2,800 |      1.0
Wisconsin ....................|   2,757,200 |   2,781,000 |      23,800 |       .9
Wyoming ......................|     270,500 |     273,900 |       3,400 |      1.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from
September 2019 to September 2020, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|             |             | Over-the-year change(p)
State              |  September  |  September  |---------------------------
|     2019    |    2020(p)  |    Level    |    Percent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama ......................|   2,075,000 |   2,000,500 |     -74,500 |     -3.6
Alaska .......................|     331,000 |     300,600 |     -30,400 |     -9.2
Arizona ......................|   2,952,500 |   2,862,000 |     -90,500 |     -3.1
Arkansas .....................|   1,273,000 |   1,225,800 |     -47,200 |     -3.7
California ...................|  17,471,200 |  15,982,300 |  -1,488,900 |     -8.5
Colorado .....................|   2,799,500 |   2,665,200 |    -134,300 |     -4.8
Connecticut ..................|   1,688,300 |   1,585,100 |    -103,200 |     -6.1
Delaware .....................|     466,400 |     428,800 |     -37,600 |     -8.1
District of Columbia .........|     799,200 |     745,600 |     -53,600 |     -6.7
Florida ......................|   8,983,600 |   8,532,500 |    -451,100 |     -5.0
|             |             |             |       
Georgia ......................|   4,626,100 |   4,461,400 |    -164,700 |     -3.6
Hawaii .......................|     655,700 |     534,900 |    -120,800 |    -18.4
Illinois .....................|   6,115,700 |   5,702,800 |    -412,900 |     -6.8
Indiana ......................|   3,163,600 |   3,033,500 |    -130,100 |     -4.1
Iowa .........................|   1,584,900 |   1,499,500 |     -85,400 |     -5.4
Kansas .......................|   1,423,400 |   1,360,400 |     -63,000 |     -4.4
Kentucky .....................|   1,943,200 |   1,826,000 |    -117,200 |     -6.0
Louisiana ....................|   1,987,100 |   1,851,400 |    -135,700 |     -6.8
Maine ........................|     637,700 |     586,700 |     -51,000 |     -8.0
Maryland .....................|   2,765,900 |   2,603,700 |    -162,200 |     -5.9
|             |             |             |       
Massachusetts ................|   3,693,800 |   3,342,000 |    -351,800 |     -9.5
Michigan .....................|   4,438,100 |   4,013,100 |    -425,000 |     -9.6
Minnesota ....................|   2,979,000 |   2,779,000 |    -200,000 |     -6.7
Mississippi ..................|   1,157,600 |   1,131,900 |     -25,700 |     -2.2
Missouri .....................|   2,906,400 |   2,784,500 |    -121,900 |     -4.2
Montana ......................|     485,400 |     467,700 |     -17,700 |     -3.6
Nebraska .....................|   1,026,500 |   1,000,400 |     -26,100 |     -2.5
Nevada .......................|   1,424,500 |   1,296,900 |    -127,600 |     -9.0
New Hampshire ................|     685,600 |     632,800 |     -52,800 |     -7.7
New Jersey ...................|   4,199,000 |   3,878,200 |    -320,800 |     -7.6
|             |             |             |       
New Mexico ...................|     861,600 |     802,400 |     -59,200 |     -6.9
New York .....................|   9,813,100 |   8,710,300 |  -1,102,800 |    -11.2
North Carolina ...............|   4,583,600 |   4,316,200 |    -267,400 |     -5.8
North Dakota .................|     438,900 |     408,900 |     -30,000 |     -6.8
Ohio .........................|   5,591,900 |   5,188,200 |    -403,700 |     -7.2
Oklahoma .....................|   1,705,300 |   1,618,900 |     -86,400 |     -5.1
Oregon .......................|   1,944,500 |   1,811,800 |    -132,700 |     -6.8
Pennsylvania .................|   6,068,600 |   5,597,800 |    -470,800 |     -7.8
Rhode Island .................|     502,800 |     468,000 |     -34,800 |     -6.9
South Carolina ...............|   2,199,300 |   2,119,700 |     -79,600 |     -3.6
|             |             |             |       
South Dakota .................|     441,100 |     428,100 |     -13,000 |     -2.9
Tennessee ....................|   3,131,600 |   3,000,100 |    -131,500 |     -4.2
Texas ........................|  12,848,800 |  12,265,200 |    -583,600 |     -4.5
Vermont ......................|     315,400 |     285,000 |     -30,400 |     -9.6
Virginia .....................|   4,064,200 |   3,857,100 |    -207,100 |     -5.1
Washington ...................|   3,483,500 |   3,286,000 |    -197,500 |     -5.7
West Virginia ................|     716,800 |     671,200 |     -45,600 |     -6.4
Wisconsin ....................|   2,972,300 |   2,781,000 |    -191,300 |     -6.4
Wyoming ......................|     290,000 |     273,900 |     -16,100 |     -5.6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(p) = preliminary.

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