North Dakota not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate falls to 3.3 percent in May

BISMARCK – Job Service North Dakota reported that labor statistics released today show North Dakota’s May not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.3 percent. The rate is 0.5 percentage points lower than prior month (3.8 percent), and 0.8 percentage points below the same period of prior year (4.1 percent).

The state continues to be considerably lower than the national (9.3 percent) May rate.

Michael Ziesch, Research Analyst for Job Service stated, “May was a relatively strong month for the state’s labor market, which was reflected in the unemployment rate improvement. The state’s rate continues to be among the lowest in the nation.”

NORTH DAKOTA NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED LABOR FORCE DATA:

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

May 2010 3.3%

April 2010 3.8%

May 2009 4.1%

UNEMPLOYED

May 2010 12,085

April 2010 13,954

May 2009 15,197

EMPLOYED

May 2010 359,546

April 2010 353,210

May 2009 352,559

LABOR FORCE

May 2010 371,631

April 2010 367,164

May 2009 367,756

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.7 percent for the month. This is 0.2 percentage points below prior month and 0.3 percentage points above the same month a year ago (9.4 percent). The seasonally adjusted rate for North Dakota was 3.6 percent in May, and like the nation, 0.2 percentage points below prior month. The state’s May seasonally adjusted rate comes in 0.8 percentage points below prior year (4.4 percent). The seasonal adjustment process utilizes a statistical adjustment to accommodate predictable fluctuations between months; such as length of daylight and typical weather. Seasonal adjustment allows for comparison between all months of a year.

Seasonally Adjusted Rates

NORTH DAKOTA

May 2010 3.6%

April 2010 3.8%

May 2009 4.4%

UNITED STATES

May 2010 9.7%

April 2010 9.9%

May 2009 9.4%

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