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Eleven states had unemployment rate decreases from January 2019 to January 2020
March 20, 2020
Eleven states had statistically significant unemployment rate decreases from January 2019 to January 2020, one state had an increase, and 38 states and the District of Columbia had little or no change.
Unemployment rate, 12-month change in the unemployment rate, and number of unemployed in January 2020, by state, seasonally adjusted
State
Unemployment rate
12-month change
Number of unemployed
Alabama
2.7%
-0.9 percentage point(s)
61,114
Alaska
6.0
-0.1
20,930
Arizona
4.5
-0.4
162,105
Arkansas
3.5
-0.1
48,066
California
3.9
-0.4
753,300
Colorado
2.5
-0.7
79,422
Connecticut
3.7
-0.1
72,273
Delaware
4.0
0.5
19,389
District of Columbia
5.2
-0.6
21,579
Florida
2.8
-0.6
291,356
Georgia
3.1
-0.7
159,596
Hawaii
2.7
-0.1
17,756
Idaho
2.8
-0.1
24,751
Illinois
3.5
-0.9
227,699
Indiana
3.1
-0.5
106,773
Iowa
2.8
0.1
49,548
Kansas
3.1
-0.2
46,749
Kentucky
4.3
0.1
90,145
Louisiana
5.3
0.6
111,320
Maine
3.1
-0.1
21,207
Maryland
3.3
-0.5
109,158
Massachusetts
2.8
-0.3
106,228
Michigan
3.8
-0.4
187,254
Minnesota
3.2
0.0
100,099
Mississippi
5.5
0.4
69,735
Missouri
3.5
0.3
109,659
Montana
3.5
0.0
18,678
Nebraska
2.9
-0.1
30,242
Nevada
3.6
-0.6
56,262
New Hampshire
2.6
0.1
19,940
New Jersey
3.8
0.1
172,337
New Mexico
4.8
-0.2
45,657
New York
3.8
-0.2
364,850
North Carolina
3.6
-0.4
184,881
North Dakota
2.3
0.0
9,328
Ohio
4.1
-0.2
238,469
Oklahoma
3.3
0.0
60,596
Oregon
3.3
-0.9
69,753
Pennsylvania
4.7
0.6
306,614
Rhode Island
3.4
-0.3
18,919
South Carolina
2.4
-1.0
56,590
South Dakota
3.4
0.3
15,788
Tennessee
3.3
-0.1
112,032
Texas
3.5
-0.2
494,400
Utah
2.5
-0.4
40,040
Vermont
2.4
0.0
8,304
Virginia
2.7
-0.3
118,336
Washington
3.9
-0.6
155,535
West Virginia
5.0
0.1
40,489
Wisconsin
3.5
0.4
109,621
Wyoming
3.7
0.2
10,738
North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in January 2020, 2.3 percent, while Alaska had the highest rate, 6.0 percent. The rates in Alaska (6.0 percent), Illinois (3.5 percent), Nevada (3.6 percent), New York (3.8 percent), Oregon (3.3 percent), and Washington (3.9 percent) were the lowest since comparable data have been available back to 1976.
The largest unemployment rate decrease from January 2019 to January 2020 was in South Carolina (−1.0 percentage point), closely followed by Alabama, Illinois, and Oregon (−0.9 point each). The only unemployment rate increase occurred in Pennsylvania (+0.6 percentage point).
United States Department of Labor
