Global| Mar 15 2021State Labor Markets in January
Summary
State labor market data in January tended to show declines in unemployment with fairly muted changes in payroll employment. 20 states report statistically significant declines in their unemployment rates. Michigan's remarkable 2.5 [...]
State labor market data in January tended to show declines in unemployment with fairly muted changes in payroll employment. 20 states report statistically significant declines in their unemployment rates. Michigan's remarkable 2.5 percentage point plunge, to 5.7 percent, led the way, with a big "but"—it was essentially the result of drop of more than 120,000 in the state's labor force. A similar story can be told about number 2 Kansas's 1.2 percentage point decline. Hawaii was the only state with an unemployment rate above 10 percent; two very large states were next on the list (California at 9.0 percent, and New York at 8.8). South Dakota and Utah, both at 3.1 percent, had the lowest unemployment rates. In general, unemployment was lowest in, essentially, states that were part of the Louisiana Purchase (with Louisiana itself an exception), as well as a few others (including Florida), and higher in the Northeast and far West.
20 states had statistically significant increases in payrolls in January. Minnesota easily led all the states, ranking first in both its percentage gain (1.9) and absolute increase 51,800. Only 2 states saw statistically significant declines, but one of them was California, with a striking 69,900 loss came on the heels of an even larger December decline (75,400). Minnesota's large increase reflects a reversal of a large December drop in leisure and hospitality. The Golden State's recent job losses have been centered in leisure and hospitality, quite likely related to intensified pandemic restrictions.
Puerto Rico had a good month, with the island's unemployment rate moving down markedly from 10.5 to 9.0 percent, and an 8,500 increase in payrolls.
Charles Steindel
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Charles Steindel has been editor of Business Economics, the journal of the National Association for Business Economics, since 2016. From 2014 to 2021 he was Resident Scholar at the Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey. From 2010 to 2014 he was the first Chief Economist of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, with responsibilities for economic and revenue projections and analysis of state economic policy. He came to the Treasury after a long career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he played a major role in forecasting and policy advice and rose to the rank of Senior Vice-President. He has served in leadership positions in a number of professional organizations. In 2011 he received the William F. Butler Award from the New York Association for Business Economics, is a fellow of NABE and of the Money Marketeers of New York University, and has received several awards for articles published in Business Economics. In 2017 he delivered Ramapo College's Sebastian J. Raciti Memorial Lecture. He is a member of the panel for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Survey of Professional Forecasters and of the Committee on Research in Income and Wealth. He has published papers in a range of areas, and is the author of Economic Indicators for Professionals: Putting the Statistics into Perspective. He received his bachelor's degree from Emory University, his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is a National Association for Business Economics Certified Business EconomistTM.
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