Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Unemployment rates up in 40 states and D.C. from March 2020 to March 2021

April 22, 2021

From March 2020 to March 2021, unemployment rates increased in 40 states and the District of Columbia, and were essentially unchanged in 10 states. The national unemployment rate of 6.0 percent was 1.6 percentage points higher than in March 2020.

Change in unemployment rates for states from March 2020 to March 2021
State March 2020 unemployment rate March 2021 unemployment rate 12-month change

Alabama

2.6% 3.8% 1.2 percentage point(s)

Alaska

5.1 6.6 1.5

Arizona

5.0 6.7 1.7

Arkansas

3.9 4.4 0.5

California

4.5 8.3 3.8

Colorado

4.7 6.4 1.7

Connecticut

3.8 8.3 4.5

Delaware

4.8 6.5 1.7

District of Columbia

5.2 7.8 2.6

Florida

4.9 4.7 -0.2

Georgia

3.6 4.5 0.9

Hawaii

2.1 9.0 6.9

Idaho

2.7 3.2 0.5

Illinois

3.7 7.1 3.4

Indiana

3.3 3.9 0.6

Iowa

2.9 3.7 0.8

Kansas

3.2 3.7 0.5

Kentucky

4.2 5.0 0.8

Louisiana

5.3 7.3 2.0

Maine

3.1 4.8 1.7

Maryland

3.5 6.2 2.7

Massachusetts

2.7 6.8 4.1

Michigan

3.7 5.1 1.4

Minnesota

3.5 4.2 0.7

Mississippi

6.0 6.3 0.3

Missouri

3.7 4.2 0.5

Montana

3.8 3.8 0.0

Nebraska

3.1 2.9 -0.2

Nevada

6.4 8.1 1.7

New Hampshire

2.7 3.0 0.3

New Jersey

3.8 7.7 3.9

New Mexico

5.4 8.3 2.9

New York

3.9 8.5 4.6

North Carolina

3.9 5.2 1.3

North Dakota

2.3 4.4 2.1

Ohio

4.9 4.7 -0.2

Oklahoma

3.2 4.2 1.0

Oregon

3.6 6.0 2.4

Pennsylvania

5.1 7.3 2.2

Rhode Island

4.0 7.1 3.1

South Carolina

3.0 5.1 2.1

South Dakota

2.9 2.9 0.0

Tennessee

4.0 5.0 1.0

Texas

4.9 6.9 2.0

Utah

2.5 2.9 0.4

Vermont

2.6 2.9 0.3

Virginia

2.6 5.1 2.5

Washington

5.3 5.4 0.1

West Virginia

5.3 5.9 0.6

Wisconsin

3.2 3.8 0.6

Wyoming

5.1 5.3 0.2

The largest unemployment rate increases from March 2020 occurred in Hawaii (+6.9 percentage points), New York (+4.6 percentage points), and Connecticut (+4.5 points), with another five states experiencing unemployment rate increases of at least 3.0 points.

Hawaii and New York had the highest unemployment rates in March 2021, at 9.0 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont had the lowest rates, at 2.9 percent each. In total, 27 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. rate of 6.0 percent, 11 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 12 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 — March 2021." Also see more charts and maps on state employment and unemployment.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rates up in 40 states and D.C. from March 2020 to March 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/unemployment-rates-up-in-40-states-and-d-c-from-march-2020-to-march-2021.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

OF INTEREST
spotlight
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics


triangle