Unemployment rates lower in 49 states and D.C. from June 2020 to June 2021

Unemployment rates were lower in June 2021 in 7 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 3 states, and stable in 40 states. Forty-nine states and the District had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier. The national unemployment rate, 5.9 percent, was little changed over the month but was 5.2 percentage points lower than in June 2020.

Connecticut and New Mexico had the highest unemployment rates in June 2021 at 7.9 percent each, closely followed by Nevada, 7.8 percent. Nebraska and Utah had the lowest jobless rates, 2.5 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. In total, 28 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 5.9 percent, 12 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 10 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

The largest unemployment rate decrease from June 2020 occurred in Massachusetts (−9.9 percentage points). The next largest over-the-year jobless rate decreases were in Michigan (−9.1 percentage points) and New Jersey (−9.0 points), with another 15 states experiencing declines of 5.0 points or more.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "State Employment and Unemployment — June 2021." Also see more charts and maps on state employment and unemployment. Estimates for the most recent month are preliminary.