The over-the-month unemployment rate for January rose in 30 states, fell in 9 states, and remained the same in 11 states, according to a report released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Over the past year, the unemployment rate rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate fell from 10% in December to 9.7% for January, but it is still two percentage points above what it was in January 2009 at 7.7%.

The largest increase in the unemployment rate was in West Virginia, going from 5.8% to 9.3% over the 12 month period from January 2009. Nevada had the next largest jobless rate increase, jumping from 9.6% to 13.0% in one year's time. Also reporting unemployment rate increases of 3 percentage points or more were Florida, Illinois, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Alabama, Michigan, and the District of Columbia.

Regionally, the West reported the highest unemployment rate for January at 10.8% and the Northeast reported the lowest at 9.1%.

By state, Michigan continued to have the highest unemployment rate for January at 14.3%, followed by Nevada at 13%, Rhode Island at 12.7%, South Carolina at 12.6%, and California at 12.5%. The rates in California and South Carolina set new highs dating back to 1976. Three other states and the District of Columbia also hit unemployment rate highs - Florida at 11.9%, Georgia at 10.4%, North Carolina at 11.1%, and D.C. at 12%.

The lowest unemployment rate for January continued to be in North Dakota at 4.2%, followed by Nebraska at 4.6% and South Dakota at 4.8%.

The BLS reported that 48 states experienced statistically significant decreases in employment over the past year. California had the largest decrease, losing 701,700 jobs in the 12 month period from January 2009 to January 2010. The next highest decreases were in Florida with 303,200 jobs lost, Texas with 287,000 jobs lost, Ohio with 222,000 jobs lost, and Illinois with 219,700 jobs lost.

Over-the-month for January, non-farm employment increased in 31 states and the District of Columbia, and decreased in 18 states. California, gaining 32,500 jobs, had the largest over-the-month increase in employment for January, followed by Illinois which gained 26,000 jobs and New York which gained 25,500 jobs.

Missouri and Kentucky continued to lose jobs over-the-month in January; both state's employment decreased by approximately 12,000.


Source:
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor