For Immediate Release: Friday, october 22, 2010
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810
Today’s state jobs report shows that in September, 33 months after the recession started, workers were still struggling to find jobs. In the nine months since the worst of the downturn (December 2009), the country has seen about 68,000 new jobs per month, well below what is needed to keep up with population growth. The unemployment rate is still 10% or higher in 11 states, reaching 14.4% in Nevada and 13.0% in Michigan. While the prospects for jobseekers have not improved in the nation overall, in some states they are still getting worse. Over the last 9 months of this supposed recovery, 11 states have actually lost jobs. Furthermore, the suffering has gone on for a long period: California, Nevada, Oregon, and South Carolina have all had unemployment rates of 10% or more since February, 2009 – 19 months ago. And Michigan has been in the double digits since November 2008, just short of two years of unacceptably high unemployment rates. And even states that have experienced recent job growth have not fully recovered from the downturn.
“We are no longer seeing the massive job losses we experienced last year, but the prolonged stagnation in the labor market is equally dramatic,” said Kai Filion, EPI policy analyst.
More state data are available on EPI’s interactive web site EconomyTrack.org
Unemployment Rate by State
September 2010 compared to start of recession, Dec. 2007
Dec 2007 Sep 2010
|
UNITED STATES |
5.0% |
9.6% |
|
Alabama |
3.9% |
8.9% |
|
Alaska |
6.2% |
7.8% |
|
Arizona |
4.3% |
9.7% |
|
Arkansas |
5.0% |
7.7% |
|
California |
5.8% |
12.4% |
|
Colorado |
4.3% |
8.2% |
|
Connecticut |
4.9% |
9.1% |
|
Delaware |
3.8% |
8.4% |
|
District of Columbia |
5.5% |
9.8% |
|
Florida |
4.7% |
11.9% |
|
Georgia |
5.1% |
10.0% |
|
Hawaii |
3.0% |
6.3% |
|
Idaho |
3.5% |
9.0% |
|
Illinois |
5.5% |
9.9% |
|
Indiana |
4.6% |
10.1% |
|
Iowa |
3.9% |
6.8% |
|
Kansas |
4.0% |
6.6% |
|
Kentucky |
5.5% |
10.1% |
|
Louisiana |
3.8% |
7.8% |
|
Maine |
4.7% |
7.7% |
|
Maryland |
3.5% |
7.5% |
|
Massachusetts |
4.4% |
8.4% |
|
Michigan |
7.1% |
13.0% |
|
Minnesota |
4.7% |
7.0% |
|
Mississippi |
6.1% |
9.8% |
|
Missouri |
5.3% |
9.3% |
|
Montana |
3.9% |
7.4% |
|
Nebraska |
2.9% |
4.6% |
|
Nevada |
5.2% |
14.4% |
|
New Hampshire |
3.4% |
5.5% |
|
New Jersey |
4.5% |
9.4% |
|
New Mexico |
3.6% |
8.2% |
|
New York |
4.7% |
8.3% |
|
North Carolina |
4.9% |
9.6% |
|
North Dakota |
3.0% |
3.7% |
|
Ohio |
5.6% |
10.0% |
|
Oklahoma |
3.6% |
6.9% |
|
Oregon |
5.2% |
10.6% |
|
Pennsylvania |
4.5% |
9.0% |
|
Rhode Island |
6.0% |
11.5% |
|
South Carolina |
5.6% |
11.0% |
|
South Dakota |
2.8% |
4.4% |
|
Tennessee |
5.5% |
9.4% |
|
Texas |
4.4% |
8.1% |
|
Utah |
3.1% |
7.5% |
|
Vermont |
4.0% |
5.8% |
|
Virginia |
3.2% |
6.8% |
|
Washington |
4.6% |
9.0% |
|
West Virginia |
4.0% |
9.2% |
|
Wisconsin |
4.5% |
7.8% |
|
Wyoming |
2.8% |
6.8% |