Chart: States with biggest unemployment rate increase

RP news wires

All states and the District of Columbia recorded statistically significant increases in their jobless rates from December 2008 to December 2009, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The largest of these increases were in Nevada and West Virginia (+4.6 percentage points each), closely followed by Alabama (+4.5 points) and Michigan (+4.4 points). The smallest rate increases occurred in Minnesota and Nebraska (+0.8 percentage point each).

States with the largest over-the-year increases in unemployment rates, December 2008 and December 2009, seasonally adjusted
[Chart data]

In December 2009, Michigan again recorded the highest unemployment rate among the states, 14.6 percent. The states with the next highest rates were Nevada, 13.0 percent; Rhode Island, 12.9 percent; and South Carolina, 12.6 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 4.4 percent in December, followed by Nebraska and South Dakota, 4.7 percent each.

This data is from the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. See "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment – December 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0068, to learn more.