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Among U.S. states and the District of Columbia, West Virginia had the highest unemployment rate in August 2015, at 7.6 percent. Nebraska (2.8 percent) and North Dakota (2.9 percent) had the lowest jobless rates.
State | August 2015 rate(p) | August 2014 rate | Over the year change | Statistically significant change? |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama |
6.2% | 6.5% | -0.3 | No |
Alaska |
6.6 | 6.9 | -0.3 | No |
Arizona |
6.3 | 6.7 | -0.4 | No |
Arkansas |
5.4 | 5.9 | -0.5 | No |
California |
6.1 | 7.4 | -1.3 | Yes |
Colorado |
4.2 | 4.6 | -0.4 | No |
Connecticut |
5.3 | 6.4 | -1.1 | Yes |
Delaware |
4.9 | 5.7 | -0.8 | Yes |
District of Columbia |
6.8 | 7.8 | -1.0 | Yes |
Florida |
5.3 | 5.9 | -0.6 | No |
Georgia |
5.9 | 7.1 | -1.2 | Yes |
Hawaii |
3.5 | 4.3 | -0.8 | Yes |
Idaho |
4.2 | 4.8 | -0.6 | Yes |
Illinois |
5.6 | 6.5 | -0.9 | Yes |
Indiana |
4.6 | 5.8 | -1.2 | Yes |
Iowa |
3.7 | 4.3 | -0.6 | Yes |
Kansas |
4.6 | 4.3 | 0.3 | No |
Kentucky |
5.2 | 6.0 | -0.8 | No |
Louisiana |
6.0 | 6.7 | -0.7 | No |
Maine |
4.5 | 5.6 | -1.1 | Yes |
Maryland |
5.1 | 5.7 | -0.6 | Yes |
Massachusetts |
4.7 | 5.6 | -0.9 | Yes |
Michigan |
5.1 | 6.8 | -1.7 | Yes |
Minnesota |
4.0 | 3.7 | 0.3 | No |
Mississippi |
6.3 | 7.4 | -1.1 | Yes |
Missouri |
5.6 | 5.7 | -0.1 | No |
Montana |
4.1 | 4.6 | -0.5 | No |
Nebraska |
2.8 | 3.2 | -0.4 | Yes |
Nevada |
6.8 | 7.5 | -0.7 | No |
New Hampshire |
3.6 | 4.2 | -0.6 | Yes |
New Jersey |
5.7 | 6.4 | -0.7 | Yes |
New Mexico |
6.7 | 6.4 | 0.3 | No |
New York |
5.2 | 6.0 | -0.8 | Yes |
North Carolina |
5.9 | 6.0 | -0.1 | No |
North Dakota |
2.9 | 2.7 | 0.2 | No |
Ohio |
4.7 | 5.4 | -0.7 | Yes |
Oklahoma |
4.6 | 4.3 | 0.3 | No |
Oregon |
6.1 | 6.9 | -0.8 | Yes |
Pennsylvania |
5.4 | 5.4 | 0.0 | No |
Rhode Island |
5.6 | 7.4 | -1.8 | Yes |
South Carolina |
6.0 | 6.5 | -0.5 | No |
South Dakota |
3.7 | 3.3 | 0.4 | No |
Tennessee |
5.7 | 6.6 | -0.9 | No |
Texas |
4.1 | 4.9 | -0.8 | Yes |
Utah |
3.7 | 3.7 | 0.0 | No |
Vermont |
3.6 | 4.1 | -0.5 | Yes |
Virginia |
4.5 | 5.0 | -0.5 | No |
Washington |
5.3 | 6.2 | -0.9 | Yes |
West Virginia |
7.6 | 6.4 | 1.2 | Yes |
Wisconsin |
4.5 | 5.3 | -0.8 | Yes |
Wyoming |
4.0 | 4.4 | -0.4 | No |
Footnotes: (p) Preliminary. |
Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant unemployment rate declines from August 2014 to August 2015. The largest over-the-year declines occurred in Rhode Island (–1.8 percentage points) and Michigan (–1.7 percentage points). West Virginia had the only statistically significant over-the-year increase in the unemployment rate (+1.2 percentage points). The remaining 24 states had rates that were not significantly different from those of a year earlier.
These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see “Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — August 2015” (HTML) (PDF).
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, West Virginia has highest unemployment rate among the states in August 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/west-virginia-has-highest-unemployment-rate-among-the-states-in-august-2015.htm (visited November 10, 2024).