Released After Most News Outlets Shut Down For The Weekend -- Remember That Great Jobs Report Yesterday? -- Not So Fast -- June 19, 2015

The AP is reporting: Unemployment rates rose in half of US states last month. And that's just half the problem; the other half concerns the type of jobs available. They spun the story as best they could.

In fact, only nine states, in fact, registered an improvement in employment rates.

Unemployment rates rose in 25 U.S. states last month, driven higher in many cases by more people who began looking for work but didn't immediately find jobs.

Rates fell in 9 states and Washington, D.C., and were unchanged in 16 states, the Labor Department said Friday.

I wonder if they mentioned the nine states?

More from the story:

California added the most jobs last month, gaining 54,200. Yet its unemployment rate ticked up to 6.4 percent from 6.3 percent. That's because more than 70,000 people started looking for work last month, and about 13,000 didn't find jobs.

New York added 42,700 jobs, the second-most, while its unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.7 percent. Texas gained 33,200, the third-highest, though its rate also ticked up, to 4.3 percent from 4.2 percent.

To be considered unemployed, one must actively be looking for work, but apparently during most of the Obama presidency folks weren't even looking for work because there were so few jobs available. In addition, at some point, when the money starts to run out, folks have to look for work no matter how few jobs are available.  

As long as I'm rambling, I have trouble believing folks who want to work make their decision to look for work based on reports in mainstream media whether more or less jobs are coming available. I don't know. For me, there are too many ways to massage the numbers, too many ways to spin the story. 

I'm pretty much stuck with one data point: whether unemployment is increasing or decreasing, and in this AP story, the unemployment rate dropped in only 9 states. Maybe we shouldn't even track the unemployment rate, just track the number of folks actually working. But then we get into "under-employed" issues, like lawyers driving taxis.

North Dakota?

Nebraska has the lowest rate, at 2.6 percent, though it ticked up from 2.5 percent the previous month. In April it displaced North Dakota as the state with the lowest rate. That's because North Dakota has lost oil and gas drilling jobs as energy companies have been forced to cut back in the wake of last year's drop in oil prices. North Dakota's rate is still very low, at 3.1 percent.

3.1% -- that's pretty high for North Dakota. Remember, 4% is considered "full employment." By the way, that 3.1% was unchanged from the month before.

Oh, back to the nine states? New, previous.

• Arizona: 5.8 down from 6.0
• Connecticut: 6.0 down from 6.2
• Indiana: 5.1 down from 5.4
• Massachusetts: 4.6 down from 4.7
• Montana: 3.9 down from 4.0
• Nevada: 7.0 down from 7.1
• Rhode Island: 5.9 down from 6.1
• Tennessee: 5.8 down from 6.0
• Washington State: 5.4 down from 5.5

I have opined before that 6.0% is the new "full employment." With technology and the much-improved safety net, I don't see a whole lot of difference between 4% and 6%. 

Whatever.

I'm surprised how well Hawaii is doing. Stable at 4.1%. Minnesota, 3.8%. 

The headline "seems worse" than the details; essentially flat unemployment numbers and a few more jobs being added, and more folks looking for work.