by Calculated Risk on 6/19/2015 10:44:00 AM

From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary

Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in May. Twenty-five states had unemployment rate increases from April, 9 states and the District of Columbia had decreases, and 16 states had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
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Nebraska had the lowest jobless rate in May, 2.6 percent. West Virginia had the highest rate among the states, 7.2 percent. The District of Columbia had a rate of 7.3 percent.

Click on graph for larger image.


This graph shows the current unemployment rate for each state (red), and the max during the recession (blue). All states are well below the maximum unemployment rate for the recession.

The size of the blue bar indicates the amount of improvement.   The yellow squares are the lowest unemployment rate per state since 1976.

The states are ranked by the highest current unemployment rate. West Virginia, at 7.2%, had the highest state unemployment rate although D.C was higher.

The second 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 10 states with an unemployment rate at or above 11% (red).

Currently no state has an unemployment rate at or above 8% (light blue); Only two states (West Virginia and Nevada) and D.C. are still at or above 7% (dark blue).