Unemployment rates were lower in 10 states in July 2026

In July 2026, unemployment rates were lower than a month earlier in 10 states and stable in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Twelve states had jobless rate increases from a year earlier, 10 states and the District had decreases, and 28 states had little change. The national unemployment rate, 4.1 percent, changed little both over the month and over the year.

South Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in July, 2.0 percent. The District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 5.9 percent. In total, 16 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.1 percent, 9 states and the District had higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

In July, 10 states had unemployment rate decreases: Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Washington (−0.2 percentage point each) and Delaware, Florida, and North Dakota (−0.1 point each). Forty states and the District of Columbia had jobless rates that were not notably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.

Twelve states had unemployment rate increases from July 2025, the largest of which were in Connecticut (+1.3 percentage points) and Oklahoma (+1.0 point). Ten states and the District of Columbia had over-the-year rate decreases, the largest of which were in New Jersey and Ohio (−1.1 percentage points 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 — July 2026." We also have more charts and maps of state employment and unemployment data.