State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly)

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, January 25, 2022

USDL-22-0103

Technical information:

Employment: [phone] • [e-mail] • www.bls.gov/sae

Unemployment: [phone] • [e-mail] • www.bls.gov/lau

Media contact: [phone] • [e-mail]

STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT - DECEMBER 2021

Unemployment rates were lower in December in 42 states and the District of Columbia and stable in 8 states, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-eight states and the District had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier and two states were little changed. The national unemployment rate,

3.9 percent, declined by 0.3 percentage point over the month and was 2.8 points lower than in December 2020.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 17 states and was essentially unchanged in 33 states and the District of Columbia in December 2021. Over the year, 48 states and the District added nonfarm payroll jobs and 2 states were essentially unchanged.

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

Nebraska had the lowest jobless rate in December, 1.7 percent, followed by Utah, 1.9 percent. The rates in the following 12 states set new series lows (all state series begin in 1976): Arkansas (3.1 percent), Georgia (2.6 percent), Idaho (2.4 percent), Indiana (2.7 percent), Kentucky (3.9 percent), Mississippi (4.5 percent), Montana (2.5 percent), Nebraska (1.7 percent), Oklahoma (2.3 percent), Utah (1.9 percent), West Virginia (3.7 percent), and Wisconsin (2.8 percent). California and Nevada had the highest unemployment rates, 6.5 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively. In total, 17 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rates higher than the U.S. figure of 3.9 percent, 16 states had lower rates, and 17 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation. (See tables A and 1 and map 1.)

In December, Massachusetts had the largest over-the-month unemployment rate decrease (-1.3 percentage points). The next largest decline occurred in Arizona (-0.6 percentage point). Eight states had

jobless rates that were not notably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes. (See table B.)

The largest unemployment rate decrease from December 2020 occurred in Hawaii (-4.6 percentage points), closely followed by Massachusetts (-4.5 points). Another three states and the District of Columbia experienced declines of 3.0 percentage points or more. (See table C.)

Nonfarm Payroll Employment

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 17 states and was essentially unchanged in 33 states and the District of Columbia in December 2021. The largest job gains occurred in California (+50,700), Texas (+50,000), and New York (+45,300). The largest percentage increases occurred in Iowa and West Virginia (+0.8 percent each), followed by Massachusetts, Missouri, and Montana (+0.6 percent each). (See tables D and 3.)

Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 48 states and the District of Columbia and was essentially unchanged in 2 states. The largest job increases occurred in California (+954,400), Texas (+694,400), and Florida (+479,300). The largest percentage increases occurred in Nevada (+7.4 percent), Hawaii (+7.1 percent), and Massachusetts (+6.6 percent). (See table E and map 2.)

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The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for December 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET). The Regional and State Unemployment 2021 Annual Averages news release is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET). The State Employment and Unemployment news release for January 2022 is scheduled to be released on Monday, March 14, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on December 2021

Establishment and Household Survey Data

Data collection for both surveys was affected by the pandemic. In the establishment survey, more data continued to be collected by web than in months prior to the pandemic. In the household survey, for the safety of both interviewers and respondents, in-person interviews were conducted only when telephone interviews could not be done.

For the December 2021 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. These 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.

The "Frequently asked questions" document at www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-december-2021.htm extensively discusses the impact of a misclassification in the household survey on the national estimates for December 2021. Despite the considerable decline in its degree relative to prior months, this misclassification continued to be widespread geographically, which in turn affected the official LAUS estimates for December 2021.

Household data for Puerto Rico are not modeled, but rather are derived from a monthly household survey similar to the Current Population Survey. The Puerto Rico Department of Labor has reported a misclassification in its household survey similar in nature to the misclassification in the Current Population Survey.

Upcoming Changes to Current Employment Statistics Data

Effective with the release of January 2022 estimates on March 14, 2022, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program will implement a new generation small area model for state and metropolitan area series. The new model will replace the CES small domain model and variants of the Fay-Herriot model in estimating private sector series with insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimation. More information on the new model is detailed in the paper "Bayesian Nonparametric Joint Model for Point Estimates and Variances" by Julie Gershunskaya and Terrance Savitsky, available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2019/st190020.htm.

Also effective with the release of January 2022 estimates, all nonfarm payroll employment estimates for states and areas presented in tables 3 and 4 of this news release will be adjusted to 2021 benchmark levels. Not seasonally adjusted data beginning with April 2020 and seasonally adjusted data beginning with January 2017 are subject to revision. Some not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted series may be revised as far back as 1990.

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Upcoming Changes to Local Area Unemployment Statistics Data

Effective with the release of Regional and State Unemployment 2021 Annual Averages on March 2, 2022, the civilian labor force and unemployment data for the states, the District of Columbia, and the modeled substate areas presented in tables 1 and 2 of this news release will be revised to incorporate updated inputs, new population controls, reestimation of models, and adjustment to new census division and national control totals. The new population controls will reflect a "blended base," which is 2010 Census-based and controlled to elements from the 2020 Census and other sources. Data in table 1 will be re-seasonally adjusted as well. Both not seasonally adjusted and seasonally adjusted data are subject to revision back to 2017.

Effective with the release of January 2022 estimates on March 14, 2022, real-time implementation of level-shift outliers in the employment and/or unemployment inputs to the models will be discontinued. These real-time level shifts were introduced in response to the pandemic to preserve movements in the published estimates that the models otherwise would have discounted. BLS has determined that these interventions are no longer necessary on a real-time basis. Outlier detection and level-shift implementation will revert to retrospective activities conducted during annual processing.

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Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly different from that of the U.S., December 2021, seasonally adjusted

State	Rate p
United States 1 …………………………………………	3.9
Alabama ...........................................................	3.1
Alaska ..............................................................	5.7
Arkansas ..........................................................	3.1
California ..........................................................	6.5
Colorado ...........................................................	4.8
Connecticut .......................................................	5.8
Delaware ..........................................................	5.0
District of Columbia ...........................................	5.8
Florida ..............................................................	4.4
Georgia ............................................................	2.6
Hawaii ..............................................................	5.7
Idaho ................................................................	2.4
Illinois ...............................................................	5.3
Indiana .............................................................	2.7
Louisiana ..........................................................	4.8
Maryland ...........................................................	5.0
Michigan ...........................................................	5.6
Minnesota .........................................................	3.1
Montana ............................................................	2.5
Nebraska ..........................................................	1.7
Nevada .............................................................	6.4
New Hampshire .................................................	2.6
New Jersey .......................................................	6.3
New Mexico .......................................................	5.8
New York ..........................................................	6.2
North Dakota .....................................................	3.1
Oklahoma ..........................................................	2.3
Pennsylvania .....................................................	5.4
South Dakota ....................................................	2.6
Texas ................................................................	5.0
Utah .................................................................	1.9
Vermont ............................................................	2.5
Virginia .............................................................	3.2
Wisconsin .........................................................	2.8

1 Data are not preliminary. p = preliminary.

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