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Nevada had the highest unemployment rate in February 2023
April 05, 2023
Nevada had the highest unemployment rate in February 2023, 5.5 percent, followed by Oregon, 4.7 percent. North Dakota and South Dakota had the lowest jobless rates, 2.1 percent each. The next lowest rates were in Nebraska, 2.3 percent, and Montana and Utah, 2.4 percent each. The rates in Maryland (2.9 percent), Montana (2.4 percent), and Wisconsin (2.7 percent) were the lowest in those states since data began in 1976. In total, 17 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 3.6 percent, 10 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 23 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
State unemployment rates, February 2022 to February 2023
State
February 2023 unemployment rate
February 2022 unemployment rate
12-month change
Alabama
2.5%
2.6%
-0.1 percentage point(s)
Alaska
3.8
4.7
-0.9
Arizona
3.7
3.6
0.1
Arkansas
3.2
3.2
0.0
California
4.3
4.7
-0.4
Colorado
2.9
3.6
-0.7
Connecticut
4.0
4.6
-0.6
Delaware
4.6
4.5
0.1
District of Columbia
4.7
5.6
-0.9
Florida
2.6
3.3
-0.7
Georgia
3.1
3.0
0.1
Hawaii
3.6
3.2
0.4
Idaho
2.6
2.6
0.0
Illinois
4.5
4.6
-0.1
Indiana
3.1
2.8
0.3
Iowa
2.9
2.5
0.4
Kansas
2.9
2.4
0.5
Kentucky
3.9
3.9
0.0
Louisiana
3.6
3.9
-0.3
Maine
2.8
3.2
-0.4
Maryland
2.9
3.4
-0.5
Massachusetts
3.7
3.9
-0.2
Michigan
4.3
4.2
0.1
Minnesota
3.0
2.6
0.4
Mississippi
3.7
4.0
-0.3
Missouri
2.6
2.7
-0.1
Montana
2.4
2.5
-0.1
Nebraska
2.3
2.0
0.3
Nevada
5.5
5.3
0.2
New Hampshire
2.7
2.2
0.5
New Jersey
3.5
4.6
-1.1
New Mexico
3.6
5.0
-1.4
New York
4.2
4.7
-0.5
North Carolina
3.6
3.4
0.2
North Dakota
2.1
2.2
-0.1
Ohio
3.9
4.0
-0.1
Oklahoma
3.0
2.8
0.2
Oregon
4.7
3.7
1.0
Pennsylvania
4.4
4.4
0.0
Rhode Island
3.1
3.2
-0.1
South Carolina
3.2
3.3
-0.1
South Dakota
2.1
1.9
0.2
Tennessee
3.5
3.4
0.1
Texas
4.0
4.1
-0.1
Utah
2.4
2.2
0.2
Vermont
2.8
2.4
0.4
Virginia
3.2
2.9
0.3
Washington
4.6
4.0
0.6
West Virginia
3.7
3.7
0.0
Wisconsin
2.7
2.8
-0.1
Wyoming
3.8
3.4
0.4
Puerto Rico
6.0
6.3
-0.3
Nine states had over-the-month unemployment rate decreases in February, the largest of which were in Arkansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (-0.2 percentage point each). Three states and the District of Columbia had over-the-month increases, the largest of which were in Massachusetts and the District (0.2 percentage point each). Thirty-eight states 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.
Thirteen states had over-the-year unemployment rate increases, the largest of which was in Oregon (1.0 percentage point). Ten states and the District of Columbia had rate decreases from February 2022, the largest of which were in New Mexico (−1.4 percentage points) and New Jersey (−1.1 points).
United States Department of Labor
