The jobless rate in December rose sharply in to 13 percent in December, from 12.3 percent November and was slightly below the record 13.3 percent posted in September, well above the ten percent national rate reported earlier this month, according to a report on state and regional unemployment issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.
According to the report, Nevada’s unemployment is now the second highest in the nation, just behind the 14.7 percent posted in Michigan and for all of 2009, Nevada’s unemployment rate spiked 5 percentage points.
Apparently City Center’s opening and historic seasonal employment could not stem the rolling tide of layoffs, as the state’s employers cut 12,500 jobs in December. Just a year ago, MGM’s City Center, which opened with 12,000 employees in December, accepted nearly that number of job applications, according to media reports.
Among the other high unemployment states are Rhode Island, 12.9 percent; and South Carolina, 12.6 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 4.4 percent in December, followed by Nebraska and South Dakota, 4.7 percent each. The rate in South Carolina set a new series high, as did the rates in three other states: Delaware (9.0 percent), Florida (11.8 percent), and North Carolina (11.2 percent). The rate in the District of Columbia also set a new series high (12.1 percent).
In total, 27 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 10.0 percent, 10 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 13 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
Twenty-one states reported statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate increases in December. Louisiana and Mississippi experienced the largest of these (+0.8 percentage point each). One state, South Dakota, saw a statistically significant rate decrease from November (-0.2 percentage point). The remaining 28 states and the District of Columbia registered jobless rates that were not appreciably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.
All states and the District of Columbia recorded statistically significant increases in their jobless rates from December 2008. The largest of these increases were in Nevada and West Virginia (+4.6 percentage points each), closely followed by Alabama (+4.5 points) and Michigan (+4.4 points). The smallest rate increases occurred in Minnesota and Nebraska (+0.8 percentage point each).
In December, 13 states experienced statistically significant over-the-month changes in employment, all of which were decreases. The largest statistically significant job losses occurred in California (-38,800), Ohio (-16,700), and Illinois (-16,300). The smallest statistically significant decreases in employment occurred in Vermont (-2,400), South Dakota (-3,600), and Montana (-6,400).
Over the year, 44 states experienced statistically significant changes in employment, all of which were decreases. The largest statistically significant job losses occurred in California (-579,400), Texas (-276,000), Illinois (-237,300), Florida (-232,400), and Michigan (-207,100). The smallest statistically significant decreases in employment occurred in South Dakota (-10,900), Delaware (-12,100), and Montana (-13,700).
