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Unemployment rate decreased in 42 states and DC from December 2014 to December 2015

January 29, 2016

Over the 12 months ending in December 2015, 42 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, while 8 states had increases. The national jobless rate was 0.6 percentage point lower in December 2015 than in December 2014.

State unemployment rates in December 2015, seasonally adjusted

5.8% and higher

5.1% to 5.7%

4.7% to 5.0%

3.9% to 4.6%

3.8% and lower

Hover over a state to see data.
Hover over legend items to see states in a category.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

View Chart Data

State unemployment rates in December 2015, seasonally adjusted
State	December 2014	December 2015^(p)	Change	Statistically significant change?
Alabama	6.1%	6.2%	0.1	No
Alaska	6.4	6.5	0.1	No
Arizona	6.6	5.8	-0.8	No
Arkansas	5.7	4.8	-0.9	Yes
California	7.1	5.8	-1.3	Yes
Colorado	4.2	3.5	-0.7	Yes
Connecticut	6.3	5.2	-1.1	Yes
Delaware	5.2	5.0	-0.2	No
District Of Columbia	7.7	6.6	-1.1	Yes
Florida	5.7	5.0	-0.7	Yes
Georgia	6.6	5.5	-1.1	Yes
Hawaii	4.0	3.2	-0.8	Yes
Idaho	4.4	3.9	-0.5	Yes
Illinois	6.2	5.9	-0.3	No
Indiana	5.9	4.4	-1.5	Yes
Iowa	4.3	3.4	-0.9	Yes
Kansas	4.2	3.9	-0.3	No
Kentucky	5.5	5.3	-0.2	No
Louisiana	7.2	6.1	-1.1	Yes
Maine	5.5	4.0	-1.5	Yes
Maryland	5.5	5.1	-0.4	No
Massachusetts	5.3	4.7	-0.6	No
Michigan	6.4	5.1	-1.3	Yes
Minnesota	3.7	3.5	-0.2	No
Mississippi	7.2	6.4	-0.8	No
Missouri	5.4	4.4	-1.0	Yes
Montana	4.5	4.0	-0.5	No
Nebraska	3.1	2.9	-0.2	No
Nevada	7.0	6.4	-0.6	No
New Hampshire	4.0	3.1	-0.9	Yes
New Jersey	6.3	5.1	-1.2	Yes
New Mexico	6.0	6.7	0.7	Yes
New York	5.8	4.8	-1.0	Yes
North Carolina	5.4	5.6	0.2	No
North Dakota	2.8	2.7	-0.1	No
Ohio	5.1	4.7	-0.4	No
Oklahoma	3.9	4.1	0.2	No
Oregon	6.7	5.4	-1.3	Yes
Pennsylvania	5.0	4.8	-0.2	No
Rhode Island	6.8	5.1	-1.7	Yes
South Carolina	6.6	5.5	-1.1	Yes
South Dakota	3.3	2.9	-0.4	No
Tennessee	6.6	5.6	-1.0	No
Texas	4.6	4.7	0.1	No
Utah	3.6	3.5	-0.1	No
Vermont	4.1	3.6	-0.5	Yes
Virginia	4.8	4.2	-0.6	Yes
Washington	6.3	5.5	-0.8	Yes
West Virginia	5.9	6.3	0.4	No
Wisconsin	5.2	4.3	-0.9	Yes
Wyoming	4.2	4.3	0.1	No
Footnotes: ^(p) preliminary.

From December 2014 to December 2015, 24 states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant unemployment rate declines, the largest of which occurred in Rhode Island (–1.7 percentage points). New Mexico had the only significant unemployment increase over that 12-month period (0.7 percentage point).

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and may be revised. For more information, see “Regional and State Employment and Unemployment — December 2015” (HTML) (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rate decreased in 42 states and DC from December 2014 to December 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/unemployment-rate-decreased-in-42-states-and-dc-from-december-2014-to-december-2015.htm (visited March 02, 2026).

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