Unemployment Rates By State: See Your State Rank

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped in March, despite several months’ worth of aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and tamp down inflation with higher interest rates. The government’s latest report showed the jobless rate dropped to 3.8% from 3.9% the previous month.

U.S. Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate for March was 0.3 of a percentage point higher than at the same time last year.

The U.S. added an estimated 303,000 jobs in the latest month.

Unemployment Rates by State

States With the Highest Unemployment Rates

At the state level, California had the highest unemployment rate for March—the latest month with available data—at 5.3%. Other high jobless rates were found in District of Columbia (5.2%) and in Nevada (5.1%).

States With the Lowest Unemployment Rates

The latest report showed the state with the lowest unemployment was North Dakota, with a jobless rate of 2.0%. South Dakota was also among the states with the strongest job market, according to the latest data, with an unemployment rate of just 2.1%. Vermont’s jobless rate of 2.2%, was the third lowest in March.

Different Measures of Unemployment

The unemployment rate gives a big-picture measure of the labor market. But there are other measures that offer a more detailed jobs picture.

For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measures how many people have been unemployed for 15 weeks or longer. In March, the share of the workforce in that category rose to 1.3% from 1.1% the previous year. This is just one of many statistics it pulls from the survey.

Other measures include discouraged workers, who are people who want to work but haven’t been able to find a job in the past 12 months. Discouraged workers aren’t counted as unemployed because they haven’t looked for a job in the previous four weeks.

Methodology

The unemployment rate is based on data collected from the Current Population Survey (CPS), also known as the household survey. The BLS surveys about 60,000 households, or about 110,000 people, monthly through in-person and phone interviews. To get the most accurate estimate on both the national and state level, all of the counties and independent cities in the U.S. are grouped geographically, considering both rural and urban areas of each state and Washington D.C., to best represent the unemployment rate in each state.

What Is the Unemployment Rate?

The unemployment rate measures how many people over the age of 16 are currently unemployed but are actively looking for work. People are no longer counted in the unemployment rate after four weeks of not seeking work. Unemployment data is gathered each month by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The current unemployment rate for the month of March was 3.8%.

How Are Unemployment Rates Determined?

The unemployment rate is a percentage of the labor force that includes both employed and unemployed people over the age of 16. To be counted as part of the labor force, you must have actively looked for a job within the last four weeks.

Using survey data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), also known as the household survey, the BLS calculates the unemployment rate by dividing the number of unemployed people by the total number of people in the labor force, then multiplying by 100 (unemployed ÷ labor force x 100).

How Does a High Unemployment Rate Affect the Economy?

High unemployment rates can have several negative effects on the economy, including an increased need for public assistance, a drop in consumer spending, and decreased productivity, leading to lower incomes.

If the unemployment rate rises, it can have a snowball effect. As people lose their jobs, they spend less, so the demand for goods and services decreases; if this pattern persists, it can cause enormous damage to the economy.

An extreme example of how a high unemployment rate damages the economy was seen during the Great Depression, when the unemployment rate was estimated to have hit nearly 25%.

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