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Friday, April 20, 2018

BLS: Unemployment Rates Lower in 4 states in March; Kentucky and Maine at New Series Lows

by Calculated Risk on 4/20/2018 10:12:00 AM

From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary

Unemployment rates were lower in March in 4 states, higher in 1 state, and stable in 45 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Seventeen states had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier and 33 states and the District had little or no change. The national unemployment rate was unchanged from February at 4.1 percent but was 0.4 percentage point lower than in March 2017.
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Hawaii had the lowest unemployment rate in March, 2.1 percent. The rates in Kentucky (4.0 percent) and Maine (2.7 percent) set new series lows. (All state series begin in 1976.) Alaska had the highest jobless rate, 7.3 percent.
emphasis added
Thirteen states have reached new all time lows since the end of the 2007 recession.  These thirteen states are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

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).