Washington, D.C.- Today, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) released the November 2011 edition of its state-by-state snapshots which detail each individual state’s economic progress for the previous month.  The report shows widespread private-sector growth in October with states in each region experiencing gains. 

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the JEC said, “It’s encouraging that thirty-nine states and the District of Colombia added private-sector jobs in October.  However we will need to see stronger gains in job creation in the months ahead to make sustained progress reducing state unemployment rates.  To strengthen the economic recovery, Washington should provide employers with new incentives to hire and retain workers.  Encouraging firms to add workers and increase employee hours can boost job creation and accelerate growth.”

Report highlights include:

• Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia added private-sector jobs in October. Illinois had the largest private-sector gains (30,600), followed by California (29,600) and Texas (13,500).  
• Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia saw their unemployment rates decline in October, the highest number of state unemployment rate declines since April of this year.   Twelve states recorded statistically significant declines.
• Manufacturing employment expanded in 28 states in October.  The largest gains were in Michigan, which added 3,600 manufacturing jobs, followed by Kentucky (2,900) and Mississippi (2,000).  Overall the United States has added 220,000 manufacturing jobs in the past twelve months. 

The report entitled “Understanding the Economy: State-by-State Snapshots”, features key economic statistics for each state.  The report is the eleventh edition of 2011 released by the Chairman of the JEC and uses recently released state-level data to explain how the economic recovery is unfolding in each state. 

To see individual state snapshots, click here.

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