Unemployment fell in 20 states last month and nearly three-quarters of the states added jobs, as the nation at large posted a fourth straight month of solid hiring. Unemployment rates rose in 16 states and were unchanged in 14 states, the Labor Department said Friday.
Meanwhile, hiring rose in 36 states and declined in 14. The biggest drops in unemployment rates occurred in Illinois, where the rate fell to 7.5% from 7.9%, and Massachusetts, where it fell to 5.6% from 6%. Georgia reported the largest increase, to 7.2% from 6.9%. Nationwide, employers added 217,000 jobs in May, the fourth straight month of gains above 200,000. That’s the first such stretch since 1999. The unemployment rate remained at 6.3%, matching a five-year low.
Last month's jobless rate in Arizona was 6.8%, down from 6.9% in April, and down 1.2 percent from May 2013. Arizona's jobless rate still is above the national average of 6.3 percent. Despite the numbers, the Arizona Office of Employment and Population Statistics reports employers shed 15,000 jobs in May, the worst showing for that month since 2009. Government losses in May were especially heavy, and many private-sector employers pulled back as well. Part of the reason for the seemingly-conflicting statistics is that the jobless rate is based on a separate survey than job growth.
New projections show that cash flow problems with Arizona's unemployment insurance trust fund will last longer than expected, so the State is preparing to borrow again to keep paying unemployment benefits. The fund collects money from employers’ payroll taxes and pays unemployment benefits to laid-off workers. The trust fund was one of the healthiest in the nation in the mid-2000s, but was completely depleted — and then some — by the length and depth of the recession. Arizona was one of 36 states that borrowed from the federal government last year to pay unemployment benefits. The State also temporarily increased employers’ taxes in 2011 and 2012 and tightened eligibility for benefits. Last year, the State borrowed $200 million from a private lender so it could repay the government loan without paying interest fees or letting businesses take a federal payroll tax hike. That loan was paid off last month.
To read the full report Click Here Bureau of Labor Statistics June 2014