Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) released the September 2011 edition of its state-by-state snapshots which detail each individual state’s economic progress for the previous month.  The report shows that 19 states and the District of Columbia added jobs in the private sector in August, down from July, when 42 states and the District of Columbia posted private-sector job gains.

“Private-sector job growth slowed in August and that slowdown is reflected in this month’s state-by-state report,” said Senator Bob Casey, Chairman of the JEC. “While we are seeing some expansion in manufacturing and business services, we need to do more to protect and create American jobs. The Senate has the opportunity to extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) this week and we must pass it.  Too many workers have lost their jobs due to unfair trade practices and TAA helps give them the job training and skills necessary to compete in today’s global economy.”

Report highlights include:

• Nineteen states and the District of Columbia added private-sector jobs in August, with Florida (18,000), Texas (8,100) and Arizona (6,600) achieving the largest gains. 
• Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia saw their unemployment rates increase this month, with seven of those states and DC recording statistically significant increases.

• Manufacturing employment expanded in 19 states in August.  The largest gains were in Washington, which added 3,200 manufacturing jobs, followed by Pennsylvania (2,200) and Kansas (1,900).  Overall the United States has added 206,000 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 ninth edition of 2011 released by the Chairman of the JEC and uses recently released state-level data to analyze the economic situation of each state. 

To see individual state snapshots, click here.