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Friday, May 18, 2018

BLS: Unemployment Rates Lower in 4 states in April; California, Hawaii and Wisconsin at New Series Lows

by Calculated Risk on 5/18/2018 10:06:00 AM

From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary

Unemployment rates were lower in April in 4 states and stable in 46 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Twelve states had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier and 38 states and the District had little or no change. The national unemployment rate edged down from March to 3.9 percent and was 0.5 percentage point lower than in April 2017
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Hawaii had the lowest unemployment rate in April, 2.0 percent. The rates in California (4.2 percent), Hawaii (2.0 percent), and Wisconsin (2.8 percent) set new series lows. (All state series begin in 1976.) Alaska had the highest jobless rate, 7.3 percent.
emphasis added
State UnemploymentClick on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the number of states (and D.C.) with unemployment rates at or above certain levels since January 2006. At the worst of the employment recession, there were 11 states with an unemployment rate at or above 11% (red).

Currently only one state, Alaska, has an unemployment rate at or above 7% (light blue); And only Alaska is above 6% (dark blue).