State unemployment rates, October 2010

In October, Nevada continued to register the highest unemployment rate among the States, 14.2 percent.

[Chart data]

The States with the next highest rates were Michigan, 12.8 percent, and California, 12.4 percent. North Dakota reported the lowest jobless rate, 3.8 percent, followed by South Dakota and Nebraska, at 4.5 and 4.7 percent, respectively.

In total, 27 States posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.6 percent, 5 States recorded measurably higher rates, and 18 States and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Eleven States reported statistically significant over-the-year jobless rate decreases in October, the largest of which were in Alabama (−1.9 percentage points) and Michigan (−1.6 points). Utah recorded the only significant rate increase from October 2009 (+0.9 percentage point). The remaining 38 States registered unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from those of a year earlier.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — October 2010" (HTML) (PDF), new release USDL-10-1628.