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Annual average unemployment rates declined in 2013

March 04, 2013

In 2012, annual average unemployment rates declined in 46 states and the District of Columbia, rose in 2 states, and were unchanged in 2 states.

States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes, 2011–2012 annual averages
StateRateOver-the-year rate change
20112012

Alabama

8.77.3-1.4

Alaska

7.67.0-0.6

Arizona

9.48.3-1.1

Arkansas

7.97.3-0.6

California

11.810.5-1.3

Colorado

8.68.0-0.6

Connecticut

8.98.4-0.5

District of Columbia

10.18.9-1.2

Florida

10.38.6-1.7

Georgia

9.99.0-0.9

Hawaii

6.55.8-0.7

Idaho

8.37.1-1.2

Illinois

9.78.9-0.8

Iowa

5.95.2-0.7

Kansas

6.55.7-0.8

Kentucky

9.58.2-1.3

Louisiana

7.36.4-0.9

Maryland

7.36.8-0.5

Massachusetts

7.36.7-0.6

Michigan

10.49.1-1.3

Minnesota

6.55.6-0.9

Mississippi

10.59.2-1.3

Missouri

8.46.9-1.5

Montana

6.66.0-0.6

Nebraska

4.53.9-0.6

Nevada

13.211.1-2.1

North Carolina

10.29.5-0.7

North Dakota

3.53.1-0.4

Ohio

8.67.2-1.4

Oklahoma

5.95.2-0.7

Oregon

9.68.7-0.9

Rhode Island

11.210.4-0.8

South Carolina

10.49.1-1.3

South Dakota

4.84.4-0.4

Tennessee

9.38.0-1.3

Texas

7.96.8-1.1

Utah

6.95.7-1.2

Vermont

5.65.0-0.6

Virginia

6.45.9-0.5

Washington

9.28.2-1.0

Wisconsin

7.56.9-0.6

Wyoming

6.15.4-0.7

 

In 2012, 41 states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which were in Nevada (−2.1 percentage points), Florida (−1.7 points), and Missouri (−1.5 points). Twelve additional states and the District of Columbia experienced decreases greater than 1.0 percentage point. The remaining nine states had annual average unemployment rates for 2012 that were not appreciably different from those of the previous year, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.

Three states had unemployment rates of 10.0 percent or more in 2012. Nevada again had the highest unemployment rate (11.1 percent), followed by California (10.5 percent) and Rhode Island (10.4 percent). North Dakota had the lowest jobless rate among states for the fourth year in a row (3.1 percent), followed by Nebraska (3.9 percent) and South Dakota (4.4 percent). Overall, 27 states had unemployment rates that were significantly lower than the U.S. rate of 8.1 percent, while 13 states and the District of Columbia had rates significantly above it.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. To learn more, see "Regional and State Unemployment — 2012 Annual Averages" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-13-0340.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Annual average unemployment rates declined in 2013 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130304.htm (visited March 19, 2024).

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