According to a regional unemployment report by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Connecticut was the only New England state that had a statistically significant unemployment rate change from June to July, with 0.3 percent decrease down to 5.4 percent. This is a 1 percent decrease from last July, when the rate was 6.4 percent.

Connecticut was among only three other states nationwide that had significant jobless rate decreases. However, it still sits at 0.1 percent higher than the national rate of 5.3 percent.

In July, the report says, three of the six New England states had jobless rates that were significantly different from that of the national average of 5.3 percent. Vermont (3.6 percent), New Hampshire (3.7 percent) and Maine (4.6 percent) had significantly lower unemployment rates and were among 18 states in the country to do so. The remaining New England states were among the 22 states that had unemployment rates not appreciably different from that of the nation. Ten states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rates measurably higher than the national average.

New England’s unemployment rate was third lowest among the nine regions surveyed, just above West South Central at 4.5 percent and West North Central at 4.3 percent.