Bailout

March State Unemployment Rates: New Record Highs in California, Florida, Georgia and Nevada

By Anonymous

Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in March. Twenty-four states recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 17 states and the District of Columbia registered rate decreases, and 9 states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia recorded jobless rate increases from a year earlier, 5 states had decreases, and 1 state had no change.
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Michigan again recorded the highest unemployment rate among the states, 14.1 percent in March. The states with the next highest rates were Nevada, 13.4 percent; California and Rhode Island, 12.6 percent each; Florida, 12.3 percent; and South Carolina, 12.2 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 4.0 percent in March, followed by South Dakota and Nebraska, 4.8 and 5.0 percent, respectively. The rates in California, Florida, and Nevada set new series highs, as did the rate in Georgia (10.6 percent).
emphasis added

This graph shows the high and low unemployment rates for each state (and D.C.) since 1976. The red bar is the current unemployment rate (sorted by the current unemployment rate).

Fifteen states and D.C. now have double digit unemployment rates. New Jersey and Indiana are close.

Four states and set new series record highs: California, Florida, Nevada and Georgia.

Full post as published by Calculated Risk on April 16, 2010 (boomark / email).