Unemployment rates lower than national rate in 27 states, higher in 12 states and D.C., in May 2021

In May 2021, there were 27 states with unemployment rates lower than the U.S. rate of 5.8 percent, 12 states and the District of Columbia with higher rates, and 11 states with rates that were not significantly different from that of the nation. Hawaii had the highest unemployment rate in May, 8.1 percent.

After Hawaii, the next highest rates were in New Mexico, 8.0 percent, and California, 7.9 percent. Seven other states (Nevada, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania) and the District of Columbia also had unemployment rates 6.9 percent or higher.

New Hampshire had the lowest jobless rate, 2.5 percent, closely followed by Nebraska and Vermont, 2.6 percent each. Six other states (Montana, Kansas, Alabama, Idaho, South Dakota, and Utah) had rates below 3.7 percent in May 2021.

All 50 states and the District had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier. The national unemployment rate was 7.5 points lower than in May 2020. The largest unemployment rate decreases among the states from May 2020 to May 2021 occurred in Nevada (−16.7 percentage points). The next largest decreases were in Michigan (−15.8 percentage points), Hawaii (−13.8 points), and New Hampshire (−10.9 points). The smallest over-the-year jobless rate decreases occurred in the District of Columbia (−1.7 percentage points) and New Mexico (−2.0 points).

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "State Employment and Unemployment — May 2021." Also see more charts and maps on state employment and unemployment. Estimates for the most recent month are preliminary.