Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

State employment-population ratios in 2011

March 01, 2012

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia recorded employment-population ratios that were significantly above the U.S. ratio of 58.4 percent in 2011, and 16 states had ratios that were appreciably below it. The remaining 11 states had ratios that were not measurably different from that of the nation.

Employment population ratios by state, 2011 annual averages (U.S. ratio = 58.4 percent)
Employment population ratios by state, 2011 annual averages (U.S. ratio = 58.4 percent)
StateEmployment-population ratio (percent)Difference from U.S. ratio

Alabama

53.4Significantly below

Alaska

64.2Significantly above

Arizona

55.8Significantly below

Arkansas

55.9Significantly below

California

56.0Significantly below

Colorado

63.7Significantly above

Connecticut

62.0Significantly above

Delaware

57.3Significantly below

District of Columbia

60.1Significantly above

Florida

54.4Significantly below

Georgia

57.8Not significantly different

Hawaii

58.6Not significantly different

Idaho

59.6Not significantly different

Illinois

59.5Significantly above

Indiana

58.0Not significantly different

Iowa

65.9Significantly above

Kansas

64.8Significantly above

Kentucky

55.5Significantly below

Louisiana

54.9Significantly below

Maine

60.3Significantly above

Maryland

62.8Significantly above

Massachusetts

60.7Significantly above

Michigan

53.9Significantly below

Minnesota

67.1Significantly above

Mississippi

53.5Significantly below

Missouri

59.9Significantly above

Montana

59.8Not significantly different

Nebraska

68.5Significantly above

Nevada

57.2Significantly below

New Hampshire

65.9Significantly above

New Jersey

59.8Significantly above

New Mexico

54.3Significantly below

New York

56.5Significantly below

North Carolina

56.2Significantly below

North Dakota

69.3Significantly above

Ohio

59.0Not significantly different

Oklahoma

57.9Not significantly different

Oregon

58.8Not significantly different

Pennsylvania

58.1Not significantly different

Rhode Island

59.3Not significantly different

South Carolina

53.5Significantly below

South Dakota

68.1Significantly above

Tennessee

57.2Not significantly different

Texas

60.4Significantly above

Utah

62.5Significantly above

Vermont

66.4Significantly above

Virginia

64.7Significantly above

Washington

59.6Significantly above

West Virginia

49.5Significantly below

Wisconsin

63.5Significantly above

Wyoming

65.4Significantly above

These data are featured in the TED article, State employment-population ratios in 2011.

West Virginia again reported the lowest employment-population ratio among the states, 49.5 percent. West Virginia has had the lowest employment-population ratio each year since the series began in 1976.

Five states registered the lowest employment-population ratios in their series in 2011: California, 56.0 percent; Hawaii, 58.6 percent; Nevada, 57.2 percent; New Mexico, 54.3 percent; and North Carolina, 56.2 percent.

In 2011, Utah registered the largest statistically significant employment-population ratio decline among the states (−1.0 percentage point). The next largest occurred in Arizona (−0.9 percentage point), Nevada and New Mexico (−0.8 percentage point each) and New York (−0.5 point). The District of Columbia also reported a measurable decline (−1.3 percentage points). Virginia posted the only significant ratio increase among states (+0.2 percentage point). The remaining 44 states had employment-population ratios that were not significantly different from those of a year earlier.

These employment data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. The employment-population ratio is the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over that is employed. For more information, see "Regional and State Unemployment — 2011 Annual Averages" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-0371.

 

 

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, State employment-population ratios in 2011 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2012/ted_20120301.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

OF INTEREST
spotlight
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics


triangle