Nevada Tops The Nation In Highest Unemployment

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Nationally, more good news on the employment front was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics April 19, as unemployment rates in 39 states dropped from March 2012 to March 2013. In fact, joblessness in California fell to a four-year low of 9.4 percent as the recovery was finally felt by areas hit hardest by the housing downturn. But unemployment still increased from February to March in eight states, including Nevada, which was ironically the nation’s highest at 9.7 percent even though it showed the sharpest year-over-year decrease

Although the Silver State’s jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent from 11.6 percent in March 2012, its month-to-month increase marks the first time in 20 months the state’s rate has risen. According to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, the fractional increase from 9.6 percent in February to 9.7 percent in March indicates almost 133,000 Nevadans were out of work last month, about 1,000 more than in February.

So far this year, job growth appears to be slowing a bit after exceeding expectations in the second half of 2012,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist for Nevada’s employment department, in a statement. “Despite the decline in non-farm payroll jobs and a slight increase in the unemployment rate, nearly all over-the-year comparisons are evidence of an ongoing mild on recovery on Nevada’s labor market.”

The second-greatest decline in unemployment during the past year occurred in Rhode Island, which saw its jobless rate fall to 9.1 percent, from 10.6 percent in March 2012; followed by Florida, where the unemployment rate fell from 8.9 percent in March 2012 to 7.5 percent last month. Unemployment rates also fell more than a full percentage point in Idaho, Washington, Hawaii and Colorado.

Illinois, on the other hand, saw its unemployment rate actually increase from 8.8 percent in March 2012 to 9.5 percent, taking it to the second-highest unemployed state in the union.  California had the third-highest jobless rate at 9.4 percent, with Mississippi tied, even though it added 36,000 jobs in the past year.

North Dakota appears to be the place to live if you need a job. Thanks to its oil boom, the state’s jobless rate remained negligible at just 3.3 percent.