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Question
of the Month - September 2003
Question:
What are the unemployment rates in the SLC states?
The national unemployment rate is one of the most closely watched economic
indicators and the latest release from the U.S. Department of Labor announces
that for the month of August 2003, it stood at 6.1 percent. Unemployment levels
at the state level attract a great deal of attention, too. The data below
presents the unemployment rate by percentage in the SLC states for July 2000,
July 2002 and July 2003 (the most recent month) along with the state’s national
ranking in July 2003.
|
SLC State |
July 2000
(Percent) |
July 2002
(Percent) |
July 2003 |
|
Rate (Percent) |
National Ranking |
|
Alabama |
4.1 |
6.0 |
5.7 |
31 |
|
Arkansas |
4.1 |
5.4 |
5.5 |
24 |
|
Florida |
3.7 |
5.5 |
5.3 |
20 |
|
Georgia |
3.3 |
5.2 |
5.0 |
15 |
|
Kentucky |
3.8 |
5.5 |
6.1 |
33 |
|
Louisiana |
4.5 |
6.1 |
7.4 |
47 |
|
Maryland |
3.2 |
4.3 |
4.6 |
10 |
|
Mississippi |
5.6 |
6.8 |
7.2 |
46 |
|
Missouri |
2.4 |
5.7 |
5.6 |
26 |
|
North Carolina |
3.2 |
6.8 |
6.6 |
41 |
|
Oklahoma |
3.0 |
4.5 |
5.5 |
24 |
|
South Carolina |
4.0 |
5.8 |
7.0 |
45 |
|
Tennessee |
3.6 |
5.1 |
5.0 |
15 |
|
Texas |
4.1 |
6.4 |
6.6 |
41 |
|
Virginia |
2.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4 |
|
West Virginia |
5.4 |
6.3 |
6.8 |
44 |
|
SLC Average |
3.8 |
5.6 |
5.9 |
|
|
National Rate |
4.0 |
5.9 |
6.2 |
|
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
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