January 24, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

States with lowest unemployment rates in December 2006

In December 2006, Hawaii and Utah recorded the lowest unemployment rates among the States, 2.0 and 2.6 percent, respectively.

[Chart data—TXT]

Nine other States—Virginia, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, Florida, and Delaware—had unemployment rates below 3.5 percent.

Two States recorded the lowest jobless rates in their series—Hawaii, 2.0 percent, and New Mexico, 3.8 percent. (These State unemployment data series begin in 1976.) 

The national unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in December.

These data come from the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for December 2006 are subject to revision. More State unemployment statistics are available in "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment: December 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0111.