Unemployment rates were lower in 17 states and DC in July 2021

Unemployment rates were lower in 17 states and the District of Columbia and stable in 33 states in July 2021. All 50 states and the District had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier. The national unemployment rate, 5.4 percent, declined by 0.5 percentage point over the month and was 4.8 points lower than in July 2020.

Nevada had the highest unemployment rate in July, 7.7 percent, closely followed by California, New Mexico, and New York, 7.6 percent each. Nebraska and Utah had the lowest jobless rates, 2.3 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. In total, 23 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 5.4 percent, 13 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 14 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

In July, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Oregon had the largest over-the-month unemployment rate decreases (-0.4 percentage point each). Thirty-three states had jobless rates that were not notably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.

The largest unemployment rate decrease from July 2020 occurred in Nevada (-8.9 percentage points). The next largest over-the-year jobless rate decrease was in Rhode Island (-8.2 percentage points), with another eight states experiencing declines of 5.0 points or more. The smallest over-the-year jobless rate decreases occurred in Kentucky (-1.2 percentage points) and Colorado (-1.3  percentage points).

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "State Employment and Unemployment — July 2021." Also see more charts and maps on state employment and unemployment. Estimates for the most recent month are preliminary.