The Economy Line: State Jobs Numbers Show Large Growth

Employment Increases Last Month:

Arizona-8,400 Jobs
Arkansas-2,800 Jobs
California-23,600 Jobs
Colorado-1,600 Jobs
Connecticut-4,100 Jobs
Delaware-2,400 Jobs
Florida-6,800 Jobs
Idaho-2,400 Jobs
Illinois-300 Jobs
Indiana-1,600 Jobs
Kansas-4,100 Jobs
Kentucky-900 Jobs
Maine-2,100 Jobs
Maryland-8,100 Jobs
Massachusetts-9,700 Jobs
Michigan-8,300 Jobs
Minnesota-7,200 Jobs
Mississippi-200 Jobs
Missouri-100 Jobs
Montana-1,200 Jobs
Nevada-3,800 Jobs
New Hampshire-4,600 Jobs
New Jersey-9,500 Jobs
New Mexico-2,800 Jobs
New York-25,400 Jobs
North Carolina-13,400 Jobs
Ohio-1,100 Jobs
Oklahoma-5,700 Jobs
Oregon-6,000 Jobs
Pennsylvania-10,700 Jobs
Rhode Island-1,500 Jobs
South Dakota-1,000 Jobs
Texas-12,900 Jobs
Virginia-8,300 Jobs
Washington-2,800 Jobs
Wisconsin-12,100 Jobs

("Regional And State Employment And Unemployment Summary," Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm, 6/18/04)

Employment Increased In 44 States This Year. "Over the year, employment increased in 44 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 5 states, and remained unchanged in 1 state. The largest over-the-year gains in employment occurred in Florida (+171,800), California (+110,200), Virginia (+88,800), and Texas (+73,600). The largest percentage gains were reported in Nevada (+4.6 percent), Arizona (+2.7 percent), Virginia (+2.5 percent), and Florida (+2.4 percent)." ("Regional And State Employment And Unemployment Summary," Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm, 6/18/04)

Unemployment Rates Down Over The Year In 46 States. "Unemployment rates were down over the year in 46 states, up in 2 states and the District of Columbia, and unchanged in 2 states. Oregon posted the largest unemployment rate decline from May 2003 (-1.8 percentage points), followed by Oklahoma and Washington (-1.6 points each). Ten other states reported over-the-year jobless rate decreases of -1.0 percentage point or more, and an additional 27 states recorded declines of at least -0.5 percentage point. No state experienced an unemployment rate increase of more than 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier." ("Regional And State Employment And Unemployment Summary," Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm, 6/18/04)

Leading Economic Indicators Rise In May. “The U.S. index of leading economic indicators signals that the U.S. economy will stay on a high growth path through the summer months, the Conference Board said Thursday. The index of leading economic indicators rose 0.5 percent in May. This is the third straight monthly increase. The rise in the index in May was above expectations. According to a survey conducted by CBS Marketwatch, economists had forecast the leading index to rise 0.3 percent. 'The data reflect a robust economic environment this spring and point to more of the same this summer,' said Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board. The current 3.5 to 4.5 percent growth rate in the leading index is signaling the continuation of a GDP growth rate around a 5.0 to 5.5 percent annual rate. Eight of the 10 indicators increased in May, led by factory hours and money supply.” (“Leading index points to more growth,” CBS Marketwatch.com, 6/17/04)

Ohio Jobless Rate Decreases. "The state's unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in May, down from 5.8 percent in April, state officials said Friday. The national rate was 5.6 percent, unchanged from April. … The number of unemployed Ohio workers in May was 327,000, down from 343,000 in April. The number of unemployed has decreased by 37,000 over the year from 364,000. The unemployment rate in May 2003 was 6.1 percent." ("State jobless rate decreases to 5.6 percent in May," The Associated Press, 6/18/04)