Key Points:
- Unemployment rates rose in three states, fell in four, and remained stable in 43 states and the District of Columbia in May.
- The U.S. unemployment rate rose 0.1% to 4.0% in May but is 0.3% higher than last year.
- In total, 24 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.0%, 4 states and the District had higher rates, and 22 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
- Thirty-three states and the District had jobless rate increases from a year earlier, 2 states had decreases, and 15 states had little change.
- North Dakota and South Dakota had the lowest jobless rates in May, 2.0% each.
- The rates in Arizona (3.4%) and Tennessee (3.0%) set new series lows.
- The District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 5.3%, closely followed by California, 5.2%, and Nevada, 5.1%.
- Four states had unemployment rate decreases in May: Arizona (-0.2%) and California, Maine, and Virginia (-0.1% each).
- Three states had rate increases: Ohio (+0.2%) and Kansas and Massachusetts (+0.1% each).