Nebraska has lowest jobless rate among states in July 2015

Nebraska had the lowest jobless rate among states in July 2015, 2.7 percent. The historical low for Nebraska was 2.3 percent in October 1990, and the historical high was 6.3 percent in February 1983. In July 2015, West Virginia had the highest unemployment rate, 7.5 percent. West Virginia recorded a historical high of 11.3 percent in February 1983 and a historical low of 3.4 percent in August 2008.

In July 2015, 18 states had unemployment rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 5.3 percent, 10 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 22 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

From July 2014 to July 2015, 21 states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant unemployment rate declines. The largest declines occurred in Rhode Island (−1.8 percentage points) and Michigan (−1.7 points). The only significant over-the-year rate increases occurred in West Virginia (+1.0 percentage point) and South Dakota (+0.5 point).

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. Historical data date back to January 1976. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — July 2015" (HTML) (PDF).