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South Dakota only state with lower unemployment rate for year ending December 2020
January 29, 2021
From December 2019 to December 2020, unemployment rates increased significantly in 45 states and the District of Columbia, decreased significantly in 1 state, and were unchanged in 4 states. The national unemployment rate, 6.7 percent, was unchanged over the month but was 3.1 percentage points higher than in December 2019.
Change in unemployment rates for states from December 2019 to December 2020
State
12-month change
December 2019 unemployment rate
December 2020 unemployment rate
Alabama
1.2 percentage points
2.7%
3.9%
Alaska
-0.3
6.1
5.8
Arizona
3.0
4.5
7.5
Arkansas
0.7
3.5
4.2
California
5.1
3.9
9.0
Colorado
5.9
2.5
8.4
Connecticut
4.2
3.8
8.0
Delaware
1.3
4.0
5.3
District of Columbia
2.6
5.3
7.9
Florida
3.2
2.9
6.1
Georgia
2.5
3.1
5.6
Hawaii
6.6
2.7
9.3
Idaho
1.5
2.9
4.4
Illinois
3.9
3.7
7.6
Indiana
1.1
3.2
4.3
Iowa
0.3
2.8
3.1
Kansas
0.7
3.1
3.8
Kentucky
1.7
4.3
6.0
Louisiana
2.0
5.2
7.2
Maine
1.9
3.0
4.9
Maryland
2.9
3.4
6.3
Massachusetts
4.6
2.8
7.4
Michigan
3.6
3.9
7.5
Minnesota
1.1
3.3
4.4
Mississippi
0.6
5.6
6.2
Missouri
2.4
3.4
5.8
Montana
0.9
3.5
4.4
Nebraska
0.0
3.0
3.0
Nevada
5.5
3.7
9.2
New Hampshire
1.4
2.6
4.0
New Jersey
3.9
3.7
7.6
New Mexico
3.4
4.8
8.2
New York
4.3
3.9
8.2
North Carolina
2.6
3.6
6.2
North Dakota
1.7
2.4
4.1
Ohio
1.4
4.1
5.5
Oklahoma
1.9
3.4
5.3
Oregon
3.0
3.4
6.4
Pennsylvania
2.1
4.6
6.7
Rhode Island
4.6
3.5
8.1
South Carolina
2.2
2.4
4.6
South Dakota
-0.4
3.4
3.0
Tennessee
3.1
3.3
6.4
Texas
3.7
3.5
7.2
Utah
1.2
2.4
3.6
Vermont
0.7
2.4
3.1
Virginia
2.2
2.7
4.9
Washington
3.1
4.0
7.1
West Virginia
1.2
5.1
6.3
Wisconsin
2.0
3.5
5.5
Wyoming
1.1
3.7
4.8
Puerto Rico
0.6
8.5
9.1
The largest unemployment rate increase from December 2019 occurred in Hawaii (+6.6 percentage points). The next largest over-the-year rate increases were in Colorado (+5.9 percentage points), Nevada (+5.5 points), and California (+5.1 points). The only jobless rate decrease over the year was in South Dakota (-0.4 percentage point).
Hawaii and Nevada had the highest unemployment rates in December 2020, at 9.3 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. Nebraska and South Dakota had the lowest rates, at 3.0 percent each. In total, 25 states had jobless rates lower than the U.S. figure of 6.7 percent, 10 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 15 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
United States Department of Labor
