California, Florida Had Biggest Job Losses in May, Labor Says
California and Florida endured the biggest job losses in May, reflecting the slump in housing and slowdown in consumer spending.
The payroll count in California dropped by 10,900 last month, led by a 9,600 decline in construction jobs, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. Employers in Florida cut 6,000 workers, with payrolls in retail and wholesale trade and transportation dropping by 5,100.
Nationally, the jobless rate jumped by a half point to 5.5 percent last month, the biggest increase in more than two decades, the government reported earlier this month. Today's report showed unemployment increased in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Only Louisiana registered a drop.
Michigan's jobless rate surged to 8.5 percent in May from 6.9 percent the prior month, the biggest jump of any state. Rhode Island, Illinois, Mississippi and Tennessee also suffered increases of at least one percentage point.
Payrolls decreased in 17 states and rose in 29 plus the District of Columbia. The tally of individual state figures showed the U.S. gained 30,000 jobs last month, compared with the 49,000 drop in payrolls reported by the Labor Department earlier this month paydayloans.
The state and local employment data are derived independently from the national statistics, which are typically released on the first Friday of every month. The state figures, because they come from smaller surveys, are subject to larger sampling errors, making the national figures more reliable, according to the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Different Surveys
The states also use different seasonal-adjustment factors and the timing of their surveys may differ from the national report.
April's regional report showed a loss of 151,000 jobs when the state totals were combined, compared with a 20,000 drop in the nationwide statistics. At the time, the disparity raised speculation the government would revise the national figure to show a bigger drop.
The decline was only boosted to 28,000 when the Labor Department issued the revised numbers on June 6.
Filed under: finance by Finance Boss