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South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in July 2024

August 26, 2024

South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in July 2024, 2.0 percent, closely followed by Vermont, 2.1 percent, and North Dakota, 2.2 percent. The jobless rate in Mississippi, 2.7 percent, set a new series low.
State unemployment rates, July 2024
State July 2024 unemployment rate (percent) July 2023 unemployment rate (percent) 12-month change (percentage points)

Alabama

 2.8 2.4 0.4

Alaska

 4.5 4.3 0.2

Arizona

 3.4 3.9 -0.5

Arkansas

 3.3 3.2 0.1

California

 5.2 4.7 0.5

Colorado

 3.9 3.2 0.7

Connecticut

 3.6 3.6 0.0

Delaware

 4.1 3.9 0.2

District of Columbia

 5.5 4.7 0.8

Florida

 3.3 2.9 0.4

Georgia

 3.4 3.2 0.2

Hawaii

 2.9 2.8 0.1

Idaho

 3.5 3.1 0.4

Illinois

 5.2 4.4 0.8

Indiana

 4.0 3.4 0.6

Iowa

 2.8 3.0 -0.2

Kansas

 3.2 2.6 0.6

Kentucky

 4.7 4.2 0.5

Louisiana

 3.9 3.4 0.5

Maine

 2.8 2.8 0.0

Maryland

 2.8 1.9 0.9

Massachusetts

 3.5 3.2 0.3

Michigan

 4.4 3.8 0.6

Minnesota

 3.2 3.0 0.2

Mississippi

 2.7 3.1 -0.4

Missouri

 3.8 3.1 0.7

Montana

 3.1 2.8 0.3

Nebraska

 2.6 2.3 0.3

Nevada

 5.4 5.0 0.4

New Hampshire

 2.5 2.1 0.4

New Jersey

 4.7 4.5 0.2

New Mexico

 4.0 3.7 0.3

New York

 4.3 4.1 0.2

North Carolina

 3.7 3.4 0.3

North Dakota

 2.2 1.8 0.4

Ohio

 4.5 3.4 1.1

Oklahoma

 3.5 3.2 0.3

Oregon

 4.1 3.6 0.5

Pennsylvania

 3.4 3.2 0.2

Rhode Island

 4.5 2.7 1.8

South Carolina

 3.9 2.8 1.1

South Dakota

 2.0 2.0 0.0

Tennessee

 3.0 3.2 -0.2

Texas

 4.1 3.9 0.2

Utah

 3.2 2.7 0.5

Vermont

 2.1 1.9 0.2

Virginia

 2.7 2.6 0.1

Washington

 4.9 3.9 1.0

West Virginia

 4.2 4.0 0.2

Wisconsin

 3.0 3.2 -0.2

Wyoming

 2.9 2.8 0.1

The District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate in July 2024, 5.5 percent, closely followed by Nevada, 5.4 percent. California and Illinois (5.2 percent each) also had unemployment rates above 5.0 percent.

The national unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point over the month to 4.3 percent and was 0.8 percentage point higher than in July 2023. In total, 28 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.3 percent, 4 states and the District had higher rates, and 18 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

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 — July 2024." We also have more charts and maps related to state employment and unemployment.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in July 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/south-dakota-had-the-lowest-unemployment-rate-in-july-2024.htm (visited December 07, 2024).

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