Periodically, after I have written about Georgia’s dismal employment picture, a reader asks something like this: “Well, we’re having the same problems that everyone else is having, right?”
In the broadest sense that all states have faced difficult times in recent years, sure, we’re all in this boat together.
But, according to the data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 45 states and the District of Columbia, and decreased in 5 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+4.9 percent), followed by Oklahoma (+3.1 percent) and Utah (+2.6 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Georgia (-0.9 percent) and Indiana (-0.4 percent).
So Georgia is one of only five states to have lost jobs over the past 12 months.
But are those losses statistically significant? Here’s what the BLS had to say about that:
Over the year, 23 states experienced statistically significant changes in
employment, 22 of which were increases. The largest increase occurred in California
(+239,100), followed by Texas (+231,600) and Florida (+93,900). The only state with
an over-the-year statistically significant decrease in employment was Georgia
(-33,300).
I’ve posted this graphic from the Ga. Department of Labor previously, but it’s worth repeating:
