US State Unemployment Rates Update

Jobless Rate^* Decreases Across 34 States in April

Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month
unemployment rate decreases, 6 states registered rate decreases, and
10 states had no rate change,^* the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate increases from a year earlier, 10 states had decreases, and 2 states had no change.

In April, 12 states recorded statistically significant unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which was in South Carolina (-0.6 percentage point). The District of Columbia also posted an appreciable rate decrease from a month earlier (-0.5 percentage point). No state reported a significant over-the-month unemployment rate increase.

Nevada recorded the largest jobless rate increase from April 2009 (+2.7 percentage points), followed by Mississippi (+2.3 points) and Florida, New Mexico, and Rhode Island (+2.1 points each). Seventeen additional states and the District of Columbia had smaller, but also statistically significant, increases. Minnesota reported the largest rate decrease from a year earlier (-1.1 percentage points). Vermont and North Dakota experienced the only other significant rate decreases (-0.8 and -0.6 percentage point, respectively).

The national jobless rate increased by 0.2 percentage point to 9.9 percent, up from 8.9 percent in April 2009.

Michigan again recorded the highest unemployment rate among the states, 14.0 percent in April. The states with the next highest rates were Nevada, 13.7 percent; California, 12.6 percent; and Rhode Island, 12.5 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 3.8 percent, followed by South Dakota and Nebraska, 4.7 and 5.0 percent, respectively. The rate in Nevada set a new series high. In total, 27 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.9 percent, 10 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 13 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

^*The jobless rates quoted here are the more commonly quoted U-3 rate not the more realistic U-6 rates. The U6 rate nationally in February was 16.5 percent compared to 8.9 percent in April 2008.

News and Comment - No Job News