<H3>• U.S. State and Regional Employment, Unemployment—2014</H3>

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Employment: In 2014, Hawaii and Indiana had the largest over-the-year increases in their employment- population ratios (+1.4 percentage points each), followed by Louisiana (+1.2 points) and Connecticut (+1.1 points). Sixteen additional states had increases of at least 0.5 percentage point. Mississippi and Tennessee had the largest decreases in their employment-population ratios (-1.2 percentage points each). Four other states had declines of at least 0.5 percentage point. North Dakota had the highest proportion of employed persons, 70.8 percent in 2014. Four other states in the West North Central division had the next highest ratios: Nebraska, 68.9 percent; Iowa, 67.3 percent; Minnesota, 67.0 percent; and South Dakota, 66.9 percent. West Virginia had the lowest employment-population ratio among the states, 49.7 percent. West Virginia has had the lowest employment-population ratio each year since the series began in 1976. Three states had the lowest employment-population ratios in their series in 2014: Kentucky, 54.8 percent; Mississippi, 50.1 percent; and New Mexico, 53.6 percent. Unemployment: Annual average unemployment rates decreased from 2013 to 2014 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This was the first year since 1984 in which all states and the District had over-the-year rate declines. The largest rate decline occurred in Illinois (-2.0 percentage points), followed by Colorado, North Carolina, and Ohio (-1.8 points each). Twenty additional states had over-the-year jobless rate decreases of at least 1.0 percentage point. North Dakota had the lowest annual average unemployment rate (2.8 percent) in 2014. Nebraska (3.3 percent) and South Dakota (3.4 percent) had the next lowest jobless rates. Eleven additional states had annual average unemployment rates under 5.0 percent. Mississippi and Nevada had the highest jobless rates (7.8 percent each) among the states, followed by Rhode Island (7.7 percent). The District of Columbia also had a jobless rate of 7.8 percent. Please visit this link to read the full report: USDOL-BLS NOTE: This report is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in providing legal, financial, accounting or other professional advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Furthermore, while we do our best to ensure that these data are accurate, we suggest that any entity making decisions based on these numbers should verify the data at their source prior to making such decisions. © 2015 Connecticut Human Resource Reports, LLC URL: http://connecticuthumanresources.blogspot.com/

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