Three States Set Record Low Jobless Rates in May
State unemployment rates for May were released today by the BLS, showing that 18 states have set historical record-low jobless rates in the last year, and 12 of those record lows were set this year. The states of Arizona (3.6%), Idaho (2.3%), and Texas (4.1%) all recorded historical record low unemployment rates in May 2007.
Here are the 18 states that have set historical record-low jobless rates in the last year:
Alabama: 3.3% in April 2007
Alaska: 5.8% in April 2007
Arizona: 3.6% in May 2007
California: 4.7% in November 2006
Florida: 3.2% in October 2006
Hawaii: 2.0% in December 2006
Idaho: 2.3% in May 2007
Illinois: 4.0% in November 2006
Louisiana: 3.3% in July 2006
Montana: 2.0% in March 2007
Nevada: 4.1% in May 2006
New Mexico: 3.5% in February 2007
New York: 4.0% in March 2007
Pennsylvania: 3.8% in March 2007
Texas: 4.1% in May 2007
Utah: 2.3% in February 2007
Washington: 4.4% in April 2007
W. Virginia: 4.0% in January 2007
1 Comments:
I saw that data -- there are a few interesting factoids to pull out of it:
1) 19 states set their lowest historical unemployment rates in either 2000 or 2001.
I haven't looked at the historical data for this recently, but one would expect very low unemployment at the peak of any cycle.
2) A hefty percentage of the BLS measured unemployment rate is due to an ongoing decrease in the labor pool.
Recent Federal Reserve studies looked at whether this was a broad seculart change, or merely a fallout from the post dot com bubble crash. (I am not sure what the answer is)
3) I would surmise that any state that has a substantial exposure to oil and/or natural gasoline industry -- Louisiana, Texas, California, Alaska -- would be quite busy these days.
There's also been huge exploration going on in North Dakota and Montana -- with some significant finds.
(I remain bullish on all manner of energy)
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