BLS: More Than Half of U.S. States Lost Jobs In September

More than half of U.S. states experienced job losses last month, according to data released Tuesday by the Labor Department.

The Bureau of Labor Statics reported that employment dropped in 27 states. Twenty states and the District of Columbia saw employment increase and three states had employment figures that remained unchanged.

Missouri experienced the most job losses, seeing employment decline by 16,500 jobs in September. Pennsylvania had the second largest decline, losing 16,400 jobs and Michigan followed with a loss of 9,800 jobs.

The most employment gains occurred in Texas, which saw an increase of 26,600 jobs in September. New York had the second greatest job gains with 12,000 more jobs and Georgia came in third, gaining 9,100 jobs.

While the number of people with jobs declined many states said their unemployment rates declined as well, which could be a function of people simply dropping out of the workforce entirely due to discouragement, retirement, school or otherwise.

According to the BLS, 37 states and the District of Columbia saw their unemployment rates decline in September compared to August. Six states had increases and seven had no changes to their employment rates.

The Midwest had the lowest unemployment rate of any region at 4.5 percent. The West had the highest unemployment rate of 5.6 percent.

The national jobless rate was 5.1 percent.