REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- NOVEMBER 2011

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally lower in November. Forty-three
states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate decreases, three
states posted rate increases, and four states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-five states registered unemployment rate
decreases from a year earlier, while five states and the District of Columbia
experienced increases. The national jobless rate fell by 0.4 percentage point
between October and November to 8.6 percent, down from 9.8 percent in November 2010.