Chart: Unemployment rates by state

Nevada again reported the highest unemployment rate among the States in June, 14.2 percent — a new series high. All region, division and state series begin in 1976.

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The states with the next highest rates were Michigan, 13.2 percent; California, 12.3 percent; and Rhode Island 12.0 percent.

North Dakota continued to register the lowest job rate, 3.6 percent, followed by South Dakota and Nebraska, 4.5 and 4.8 percent, respectively.

In June, 25 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.5 percent, 10 states had measurably higher rates, and 15 states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Nevada recorded the largest jobless rate increase from June 2009 (+2.3 percentage points). Five additional states had smaller, but also statistically significant, increases. Eight states reported significant over-the-year rate decreases in June, the largest of which was Minnesota (‑1.6 percentage points). The remaining 36 states and the District of Columbia registered jobless rates that were not appreciably different from those of a year earlier.

This data is from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and is seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month is preliminary. To learn more, see "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment—June 2010" (HTML) (PDF), new release USDL-10-0992.