Unemployment rates were lower in April in 13 states and the District of Columbia, while remaining stable in 37 states, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
All 50 states and the district had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier. The national unemployment rate, 3.6 percent, was unchanged over the month but was 2.4 percentage points lower than in April 2021.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 11 states and was essentially unchanged in 39 states and the District of Columbia in April 2022. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 49 states and the district and was essentially unchanged in 1 state.
Nebraska and Utah had the lowest jobless rates in April, 1.9 percent each. The rates in these two states set new series lows, as did the rates in the following eight states (all state series begin in 1976): Alabama (2.8 percent), Arizona (3.2 percent), Idaho (2.6 percent), Kentucky (3.9 percent), Minnesota (2.2 percent), Mississippi (4.1 percent), South Dakota (2.3 percent), and West Virginia (3.6 percent).
The District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 5.8 percent, followed by New Mexico, 5.3 percent. In total, 18 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 3.6 percent, 10 states and the district had higher rates, and 22 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
In April, 13 states and the District of Columbia had over-the month unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which was in Maryland (-0.4 percentage point). Iowa, Maine, and Minnesota had the next largest rate decreases (-0.3 percentage point each). Thirty-seven 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.
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