Southwest - Labor Force Statistics

Civilian labor force in the Southwest,
seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area (Links provide news releases)	Back data	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (1)	Sep 2003 to Sep 2004 (1)
Area (Links provide news releases)	Back data	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (1)	Net change (2)	Percent change (2)
United States		146,610	147,856	147,704	147,483	873	0.6
South (3)		51,378.1	51,822.9	51,842.8	51,843.0	465.0	0.9
Arkansas		1,263.6	1,318.2	1,321.3	1,326.7	63.2	5.0
Louisiana		2,041.0	2,048.0	2,033.0	2,059.9	19.0	0.9
New Mexico		900.8	905.7	910.9	911.1	10.4	1.2
Oklahoma		1,695.2	1,709.2	1,698.8	1,704.6	9.4	0.6
Texas		10,935.9	10,953.0	10,963.2	10,976.3	40.5	0.4
Footnotes: (1) State and regional data for the most recent month are preliminary. (2) State and regional changes calculated using unrounded data. (3) The South region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
SOURCE: Local Area Unemployment Statistics The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 6,800 areas. Return to Southwest Economic Summary menu

Schedule of Upcoming Releases for the Employment Situation
Schedule of Upcoming Releases for Regional and State Employment and Unemployment

Unemployed in the Southwest,
seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area (Links provide news releases)	Back data	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (1)	Sep 2003 to Sep 2004 (1)
Area (Links provide news releases)	Back data	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (1)	Net change (2)	Percent change (2)
United States		8,966	8,196	8,022	8,003	-963	-10.7
South (3)		2,960.3	2,569.6	2,583.1	2,519.9	-440.4	-14.9
Arkansas		83.2	73.5	70.9	73.3	-9.9	-11.9
Louisiana		131.9	125.5	100.9	108.7	-23.1	-17.5
New Mexico		59.5	48.4	49.2	48.6	-10.9	-18.3
Oklahoma		98.0	76.1	70.0	74.5	-23.4	-23.9
Texas		739.0	628.8	627.3	598.6	-140.4	-19.0
Footnotes: (1) State and regional data for the most recent month are preliminary. (2) State and regional changes calculated using unrounded data. (3) The South region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
SOURCE: Local Area Unemployment Statistics The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 6,800 areas. Return to Southwest Economic Summary menu

Schedule of Upcoming Releases for the Employment Situation
Schedule of Upcoming Releases for Regional and State Employment and Unemployment

Unemployment rates in the Southwest,
seasonally adjusted (in percent)
Area (Links provide news releases)	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (1)	Net change Sep 2003 to Sep 2004 (1)
United States	6.1	5.5	5.4	5.4	-0.7
South (2)	5.8	5.0	5.0	4.9	-0.9
Arkansas	6.6	5.6	5.4	5.5	-1.1
Louisiana	6.5	6.1	5.0	5.3	-1.2
New Mexico	6.6	5.3	5.4	5.3	-1.3
Oklahoma	5.8	4.5	4.1	4.4	-1.4
Texas	6.8	5.7	5.7	5.5	-1.3
Footnotes: (1) State and regional data for the most recent month are preliminary. (2) The South region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
SOURCE: Local Area Unemployment Statistics The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 6,800 areas. Return to Southwest Economic Summary menu

Schedule of Upcoming Releases for the Employment Situation
Schedule of Upcoming Releases for Regional and State Employment and Unemployment

Unemployment rates in Southwest states by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA),
not seasonally adjusted (in percent)
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (news release)	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (P)	Net change Sep 2003 to Sep 2004 (P)
Arkansas
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers	3.0	3.2	2.5	2.4	-0.6
Fort Smith, AR-OK	5.3	5.2	4.5	4.7	-0.6
Jonesboro	5.5	5.6	4.6	4.5	-1.0
Little Rock-North Little Rock	5.2	5.1	4.4	4.5	-0.7
Pine Bluff	9.1	10.1	8.7	8.5	-0.6
Louisiana
Alexandria	5.5	5.4	4.0	4.0	-1.5
Baton Rouge	6.1	6.6	5.4	5.1	-1.0
Houma	3.6	4.7	3.8	4.0	0.4
Lafayette	5.4	4.8	3.7	3.9	-1.5
Lake Charles	6.5	5.5	4.2	4.4	-2.1
Monroe	5.6	5.8	4.7	4.4	-1.2
New Orleans	5.8	6.0	4.8	4.8	-1.0
Shreveport-Bossier City	6.6	6.6	5.1	4.9	-1.7
New Mexico
Albuquerque	5.8	5.0	4.9	4.9	-0.9
Las Cruces	7.2	7.1	6.0	6.0	-1.2
Santa Fe	3.9	3.3	3.2	3.2	-0.7
Oklahoma
Enid	3.7	2.5	2.2	2.7	-1.0
Lawton	3.8	3.4	3.2	3.5	-0.3
Oklahoma City	4.9	3.9	3.3	3.7	-1.2
Tulsa	6.5	4.5	4.0	4.4	-2.1
Texas
Abilene	4.2	3.4	3.3	2.9	-1.3
Amarillo	4.1	3.5	3.3	3.1	-1.0
Austin-San Marcos	5.8	4.7	4.5	4.2	-1.6
Beaumont-Port Arthur	9.6	9.5	9.1	8.4	-1.2
Brazoria (PMSA)	9.1	9.2	8.9	7.9	-1.2
Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito	10.7	9.6	8.9	8.6	-2.1
Bryan-College Station	2.3	2.1	1.9	1.7	-0.6
Corpus Christi	6.6	7.2	6.9	6.6	0.0
Dallas (PMSA)	7.1	6.2	6.0	5.7	-1.4
El Paso	10.1	7.8	7.5	7.2	-2.9
Fort Worth-Arlington (PMSA)	6.4	5.8	5.5	5.2	-1.2
Galveston-Texas City (PMSA)	8.6	8.3	8.1	7.4	-1.2
Houston (PMSA)	7.1	6.6	6.3	5.9	-1.2
Killeen-Temple	5.7	4.6	4.5	4.1	-1.6
Laredo	6.7	7.1	6.2	5.8	-0.9
Longview-Marshall	6.4	6.1	5.2	5.0	-1.4
Lubbock	3.5	4.1	3.5	3.0	-0.5
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	13.3	12.3	11.5	10.6	-2.7
Odessa-Midland	5.7	5.1	4.8	4.4	-1.3
San Angelo	3.9	3.5	3.6	3.1	-0.8
San Antonio	5.7	5.3	4.9	4.6	-1.1
Sherman-Denison	7.5	5.8	5.7	5.4	-2.1
Texarkana, TX-Texarkana, AR	5.6	5.2	4.9	4.8	-0.8
Tyler	4.7	5.2	4.2	3.9	-0.8
Victoria	5.3	4.6	4.7	4.4	-0.9
Waco	5.3	4.8	4.5	4.0	-1.3
Wichita Falls	5.4	4.1	3.8	3.4	-2.0
Footnotes: (P) Preliminary
SOURCE: Local Area Unemployment Statistics The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 6,800 areas. Return to Southwest Economic Summary menu

Schedule of Upcoming Releases for Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment

Nonfarm wage and salary employment in Southwest States,
seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area (news release)	Back data	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (P)	Sep 2003 to Sep 2004 (P)
Area (news release)	Back data	Sep 2003	Jul 2004	Aug 2004	Sep 2004 (P)	Net change	Percent change
United States		129,856	131,343	131,541	131,680	1,824	1.4
Arkansas		1,144.8	1,152.2	1,155.9	1,155.6	10.8	0.9
Louisiana		1,900.0	1,914.5	1,909.3	1,903.0	3.0	0.2
New Mexico		776.3	790.8	793.1	795.1	18.8	2.4
Oklahoma		1,439.3	1,460.0	1,460.8	1,464.2	24.9	1.7
Texas		9,344.0	9,451.7	9,461.2	9,467.7	123.7	1.3
Footnotes: (P) Preliminary
SOURCE: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area The Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey is a monthly survey of business establishments which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data by industry for the nation as a whole, all States, and most major metropolitan areas since 1939. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative program in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Return to Southwest Economic Summary menu

Schedule of Upcoming Releases for the Employment Situation
Schedule of Upcoming Releases for Regional and State Employment and Unemployment

Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, Southwest states,
not seasonally adjusted
Area (news release)	Mass Layoff Events			Mass Layoff Initial Claimants for Unemployment Insurance
Area (news release)	Back data	Sep 2003	Sep 2004 (P)	Back data	Sep 2003	Sep 2004 (P)
United States		868	708		82,647	68,972
West South Central (1)		69	40		6,445	3,672
Arkansas		3	-		268	-
Louisiana		4	5		231	402
Oklahoma		5	-		359	-
Texas		57	32		5,587	2,965
Mountain (2)		30	15		2,568	1,163
New Mexico		-	-		-	-
Footnotes: (1) The West South Central region includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. (2) The Mountain region includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. (P) Preliminary
(-) Zero or data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. SOURCE: Mass Layoff Statistics Monthly data report summary information on establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Data are available for 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as by industry. Return to Southwest Economic Summary menu

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