July 21, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

State unemployment rates: June 2009

Michigan again reported the highest jobless rate, 15.2 percent, in June. Before June, the last State to have an unemployment rate of 15.0 percent or higher was West Virginia, in March 1984.

States with the highest and lowest unemployment rates and U.S. unemployment rate, June 2009
[Chart data—TXT]

The States with the next highest rates were Rhode Island, 12.4 percent, Oregon, 12.2 percent, and South Carolina, 12.1 percent. The Rhode Island and South Carolina rates were the highest on record for those States.

North Dakota registered the lowest unemployment rate in June, 4.2 percent.

The national unemployment rate was 9.5 percent in June 2009.

These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. More State unemployment statistics are available in "Regional and State Employment and Unemployment: June 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-0815.

 

 

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