Unemployment rates were lower in April 2023 than a year earlier in 16 states

Unemployment rates were lower in April 2023 than a year earlier in 16 states, higher in 10 states, and stable in 24 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate, 3.4 percent, was 0.2 percentage point lower in April 2023 than in April 2022.

Nevada had the highest unemployment rate in April, 5.4 percent, and South Dakota had the lowest rate, 1.9 percent. The next lowest rate was in Nebraska, 2.0 percent, followed by New Hampshire and North Dakota, 2.1 percent each. The rates in Alabama (2.2 percent), Arizona (3.4 percent), Arkansas (2.8 percent), Kentucky (3.7 percent), Maine (2.4 percent), Maryland (2.5 percent), Mississippi (3.4 percent), Ohio (3.7 percent), West Virginia (3.3 percent), and Wisconsin (2.4 percent) set new lows. (All state data begin in 1976.)  In total, 17 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. rate of 3.4 percent, 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different, and 8 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had higher rates than that of the nation.

Sixteen states had over-the-year unemployment rate decreases, the largest of which was in New Mexico (−0.8 percentage point). Ten states had rate increases from April 2022, the largest of which were in Kansas, Minnesota, and Virginia (+0.5 percentage point each).

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "State Employment and Unemployment — April 2023." We also have more charts and maps of state employment and unemployment data in the state chart package.