According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, “Unemployment rates were higher in July in 3 states, lower in 1 state, and stable in 46 states and the District of Columbia,” while the national unemployment rate was 4.3%, 0.6% lower than in July 2016.
The Bureau reported that, “nonfarm payroll employment increased in 11 states and the District of Columbia in July 2017, decreased in 1 state, and was essentially unchanged in 38 states. Over the year, 29 states and the District added nonfarm payroll jobs and 21 states were essentially unchanged.”
The state of North Dakota and Colorado had the lowest unemployment rates in July, 2.2% and 2.4%, respectively, while the state of Alaska had the highest jobless rate, 7.0%. In total, 18 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 4.3 percent, 9 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 23 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
For the month of July three states had unemployment rate increases: Alaska and Maine (0.2% each) and South Dakota (0.1%). In contrast, Texas had the only notable rate decrease (-0.3%). The remaining 46 states and the District of Columbia 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.