by Calculated Risk on 7/18/2014 10:45:00 AM

From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in June. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from May, 14 states had increases, and 14 states had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier and one state had an increase.
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Mississippi and Rhode Island had the highest unemployment rates among the states in June, 7.9 percent each. North Dakota again had the lowest jobless rate, 2.7 percent.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the current unemployment rate for each state (red), and the max during the recession (blue). All states are well below the maximum unemployment rate for the recession.

The size of the blue bar indicates the amount of improvement. 

The states are ranked by the highest current unemployment rate. Rhode Island and Mississippi had the highest unemployment rates in June at 7.9%.

The second graph shows the number of states with unemployment rates at or above certain levels since January 2006. At the worst of the employment recession, there were 10 states with an unemployment rate at or above 11% (red).

For the first time since mid-2008, no state has an unemployment rate at or above 8% (light blue), although 9 states are still at or above 7% (dark blue).

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