May Jobs Report Reveals Uneven Recovery

The U.S. Labor Department released its latest jobs report on Friday, providing updated data on the employment outlook in each state.

Thirty-seven states recorded job gains in May, led by California (+54,200), New York (+42,700) and Texas (+33,200). In 20 states, the monthly increase was large enough to be considered statistically significant. Preliminary estimates also suggest North Dakota (-5,300) and Wisconsin (-8,600) suffered the steepest declines in May payroll employment of any state.

Looking back further, jobs data depicts an economic recovery that remains uneven across the country. Seventeen states have enjoyed over-the-year employment gains exceeding 2 percent. Utah (+3.9 percent) has registered the strongest job growth over the past 12 months, followed by Washington (+3.6 percent) and Florida (+3.4 percent). In 11 other states, over-the-year job gains are far weaker, below 1 percent. West Virginia has lost an estimated 16,600 jobs, with most of the losses occurring in the public sector.

 

State	May 2015 Jobs	Over the Month Change	Over the Month % Change	Over the Year Change	Over the Year % Change
West Virginia	757,600	2,100	0.3	-16,600	-2.1
Wyoming	292,900	-1,900	-0.6	200	0.1
Kansas	1,398,500	-3,800	-0.3	6,500	0.5
Nebraska	998,700	-4,800	-0.5	5,800	0.6
Louisiana	1,989,800	3,900	0.2	11,800	0.6
North Dakota	462,700	-5,300	-1.1	3,500	0.8
Virginia	3,808,600	5,900	0.2	29,900	0.8
Missouri	2,757,000	6,600	0.2	22,000	0.8
Maine	609,900	1,500	0.2	5,000	0.8
Oklahoma	1,661,600	-1,200	-0.1	15,100	0.9
Alaska	341,200	-100	0.0	3,200	0.9
New Mexico	827,900	-2,200	-0.3	8,300	1.0
Illinois	5,929,500	9,200	0.2	62,100	1.1
Montana	458,400	0	0.0	4,900	1.1
Mississippi	1,129,100	3,600	0.3	12,300	1.1
Pennsylvania	5,856,900	18,200	0.3	66,800	1.2
New Jersey	4,012,400	10,100	0.3	46,100	1.2
Vermont	312,900	-2,100	-0.7	4,000	1.3
Delaware	443,100	800	0.2	5,700	1.3
Hawaii	633,000	1,700	0.3	8,500	1.4
Wisconsin	2,877,300	-8,600	-0.3	38,700	1.4
Iowa	1,568,200	2,200	0.1	21,400	1.4
Rhode Island	484,700	3,400	0.7	6,700	1.4
Ohio	5,407,000	12,000	0.2	76,700	1.4
New York	9,219,300	42,700	0.5	134,600	1.5
Minnesota	2,851,900	-200	0.0	42,600	1.5
Alabama	1,948,100	6,500	0.3	30,000	1.6
Connecticut	1,691,800	6,400	0.4	26,100	1.6
District of Columbia	765,500	3,700	0.5	13,100	1.7
South Dakota	430,400	1,100	0.3	7,400	1.7
New Hampshire	657,100	4,800	0.7	11,400	1.8
Maryland	2,666,600	13,500	0.5	46,800	1.8
Tennessee	2,860,800	10,000	0.4	53,800	1.9
Arkansas	1,209,900	1,300	0.1	22,900	1.9
Massachusetts	3,477,800	7,400	0.2	70,600	2.1
Indiana	3,042,800	10,800	0.4	62,700	2.1
Kentucky	1,892,500	5,100	0.3	39,300	2.1
South Carolina	1,991,900	-4,900	-0.2	46,600	2.4
Arizona	2,613,800	600	0.0	62,200	2.4
Texas	11,788,700	33,200	0.3	286,400	2.5
Colorado	2,514,500	4,900	0.2	61,100	2.5
Michigan	4,277,800	25,700	0.6	107,200	2.6
North Carolina	4,243,200	10,400	0.2	108,800	2.6
Georgia	4,252,800	3,900	0.1	114,900	2.8
California	16,054,100	54,200	0.3	465,700	3.0
Oregon	1,767,500	-1,400	-0.1	53,400	3.1
Idaho	676,100	600	0.1	22,000	3.4
Nevada	1,254,300	8,000	0.6	41,500	3.4
Florida	8,059,100	17,100	0.2	268,500	3.4
Washington	3,169,300	7,700	0.2	111,600	3.6
Utah	1,374,600	3,300	0.2	51,400	3.9

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment data. May estimates are preliminary.
This table shows the same data for only private-sector employers:

State	May 2015 Jobs	Over the Month Change	Over the Month % Change	Over the Year Change	Over the Year % Change
Alabama	1,568,300	4,800	0.3	27,100	1.8
Alaska	258,500	-700	-0.3	2,800	1.1
Arizona	2,206,800	7,100	0.3	57,500	2.7
Arkansas	996,500	1,400	0.1	23,200	2.4
California	13,618,500	55,700	0.4	434,400	3.3
Colorado	2,101,000	4,400	0.2	54,700	2.7
Connecticut	1,451,900	6,600	0.5	24,600	1.7
Delaware	378,600	900	0.2	5,900	1.6
District of Columbia	528,300	3,800	0.7	11,100	2.1
Florida	6,979,600	16,200	0.2	263,600	3.9
Georgia	3,571,800	11,700	0.3	118,600	3.4
Hawaii	509,300	2,800	0.6	9,800	2.0
Idaho	555,900	800	0.1	19,800	3.7
Illinois	5,101,800	6,900	0.1	61,000	1.2
Indiana	2,612,300	9,700	0.4	58,900	2.3
Iowa	1,311,200	3,000	0.2	18,500	1.4
Kansas	1,144,100	-1,500	-0.1	8,300	0.7
Kentucky	1,567,300	5,300	0.3	36,600	2.4
Louisiana	1,666,100	5,000	0.3	17,700	1.1
Maine	511,000	2,300	0.5	5,500	1.1
Maryland	2,157,200	10,800	0.5	40,400	1.9
Massachusetts	3,017,300	7,100	0.2	59,300	2.0
Michigan	3,681,600	24,300	0.7	105,700	3.0
Minnesota	2,433,500	-500	0.0	41,700	1.7
Mississippi	881,900	2,400	0.3	9,200	1.1
Missouri	2,324,000	7,200	0.3	21,400	0.9
Montana	370,000	400	0.1	6,000	1.6
Nebraska	826,000	-4,300	-0.5	3,000	0.4
Nevada	1,102,100	9,500	0.9	41,500	3.9
New Hampshire	567,900	5,100	0.9	10,700	1.9
New Jersey	3,388,800	12,200	0.4	42,400	1.3
New Mexico	636,100	-1,100	-0.2	8,500	1.4
New York	7,783,800	47,400	0.6	134,000	1.8
North Carolina	3,527,200	8,900	0.3	109,400	3.2
North Dakota	381,200	-5,200	-1.3	2,500	0.7
Ohio	4,651,100	13,300	0.3	81,200	1.8
Oklahoma	1,311,800	-2,400	-0.2	12,600	1.0
Oregon	1,469,800	-1,100	-0.1	48,000	3.4
Pennsylvania	5,150,500	16,900	0.3	73,100	1.4
Rhode Island	424,900	3,700	0.9	7,200	1.7
South Carolina	1,631,700	-4,700	-0.3	42,400	2.7
South Dakota	352,200	1,200	0.3	7,000	2.0
Tennessee	2,435,600	10,300	0.4	53,800	2.3
Texas	9,941,000	25,700	0.3	262,500	2.7
Utah	1,140,400	100	0.0	48,800	4.5
Vermont	258,000	-300	-0.1	4,400	1.7
Virginia	3,100,500	5,400	0.2	27,700	0.9
Washington	2,608,800	8,400	0.3	100,400	4.0
West Virginia	604,400	2,500	0.4	-5,700	-0.9
Wisconsin	2,466,900	-6,100	-0.2	38,200	1.6
Wyoming	220,900	-1,900	-0.9	-400	-0.2

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, private sector seasonally-adjusted data. May estimates are preliminary.