Changes in Unemployment Rate by State
From: WalletHub
September’s jobs report showed a slowdown in growth. The economy gained 263,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, down from 315,000 the previous month. In September, there were notable gains in sectors including health care and leisure and hospitality.
Now, the U.S. unemployment rate sits at 3.5%. We have come a long way from the nearly historic high of 14.7% in April 2020, due to a combination of vaccinations and states removing restrictions. However, inflation and the potential of a recession threaten to push the unemployment rate higher again if Federal Reserve rate increases are not able to stave them off.
In order to take stock of how unemployment rates are changing throughout the U.S., WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on six key metrics that compare unemployment rate statistics from the latest month for which data is available (September 2022) to key dates in 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.
Main Findings
State | Rank |
---|---|
Minnesota | 1 |
North Dakota | 2 |
Vermont | 3 |
New Hampshire | 4 |
Missouri | 5 |
Florida | 6 |
Utah | 7 |
Virginia | 8 |
South Dakota | 9 |
Nebraska | 10 |
New Jersey | 11 |
Alabama | 12 |
Rhode Island | 13 |
Iowa | 14 |
Georgia | 15 |
Kansas | 16 |
Louisiana | 17 |
Massachusetts | 18 |
Idaho | 19 |
Indiana | 20 |
Montana | 21 |
Wyoming | 22 |
Hawaii | 23 |
Wisconsin | 24 |
Mississippi | 25 |
Maine | 26 |
California | 27 |
South Carolina | 28 |
Connecticut | 29 |
Pennsylvania | 30 |
Oklahoma | 31 |
Tennessee | 32 |
Colorado | 33 |
Washington | 34 |
North Carolina | 35 |
Maryland | 36 |
Arkansas | 37 |
New York | 38 |
Arizona | 39 |
Michigan | 40 |
New Mexico | 41 |
West Virginia | 42 |
Oregon | 43 |
Ohio | 44 |
Kentucky | 45 |
Texas | 46 |
Delaware | 47 |
Nevada | 48 |
District of Columbia | 49 |
Alaska | 50 |
Illinois | 51 |
Unemployment Rate Changes by State
Overall Rank | State | Unemployment Rate (September 2022) | Change in Unemployment (September 2022 vs August 2022) | Change in Unemployment (September 2022 vs September 2021) | Change in Unemployment (September 2022 vs September 2020) | Change in Unemployment (September 2022 vs September 2019) | Not Seasonally Adjusted Continued Claims (September 2022 vs August 2022) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota | 2.0% | 5.9% | -36.1% | -68.3% | -44.1% | -10.5% |
2 | North Dakota | 2.2% | -1.8% | -30.1% | -60.5% | 7.0% | -41.0% |
3 | Vermont | 2.1% | 3.0% | -30.8% | -51.6% | -20.4% | -32.6% |
4 | New Hampshire | 2.2% | 6.9% | -31.5% | -63.8% | -20.1% | -32.9% |
5 | Missouri | 2.4% | -2.1% | -39.7% | -59.4% | -23.0% | -28.7% |
6 | Florida | 2.5% | -8.9% | -34.0% | -70.0% | -17.1% | -7.1% |
7 | Utah | 2.1% | 1.9% | -12.7% | -49.2% | -10.8% | -3.3% |
8 | Virginia | 2.6% | -0.8% | -22.8% | -58.7% | -3.1% | -23.8% |
9 | South Dakota | 2.3% | 0.9% | -22.9% | -40.1% | -15.6% | -6.2% |
10 | Nebraska | 2.2% | 5.7% | -8.7% | -31.6% | -28.9% | -18.9% |
11 | New Jersey | 3.3% | -18.0% | -43.1% | -59.4% | -6.3% | -18.3% |
12 | Alabama | 2.6% | 1.1% | -17.3% | -57.2% | -10.4% | -17.4% |
13 | Rhode Island | 3.1% | 8.0% | -42.7% | -67.9% | -15.3% | -33.2% |
14 | Iowa | 2.7% | 4.0% | -32.4% | -41.8% | -3.2% | -20.1% |
15 | Georgia | 2.8% | -1.0% | -18.9% | -53.2% | -17.9% | -14.4% |
16 | Kansas | 2.6% | 3.4% | -13.2% | -49.1% | -15.8% | -9.0% |
17 | Louisiana | 3.4% | -4.9% | -29.3% | -61.7% | -28.8% | -13.4% |
18 | Massachusetts | 3.4% | -4.1% | -33.2% | -65.3% | 12.1% | -20.9% |
19 | Idaho | 2.8% | 4.8% | -13.1% | -38.1% | -0.9% | -24.9% |
20 | Indiana | 2.8% | 1.7% | -4.5% | -54.2% | -13.0% | -6.7% |
21 | Montana | 2.9% | 3.4% | -6.8% | -39.6% | -17.0% | -20.9% |
22 | Wyoming | 3.3% | 4.6% | -21.3% | -41.9% | -19.0% | -20.1% |
23 | Hawaii | 3.5% | -13.1% | -26.7% | -73.1% | 71.6% | -5.9% |
24 | Wisconsin | 3.2% | 3.7% | -5.1% | -43.3% | -2.9% | -27.6% |
25 | Mississippi | 3.6% | 1.6% | -26.2% | -47.8% | -36.2% | -16.8% |
26 | Maine | 3.3% | 5.1% | -27.7% | -25.0% | 11.9% | -23.4% |
27 | California | 3.9% | -4.8% | -38.7% | -61.3% | -5.6% | -5.3% |
28 | South Carolina | 3.2% | 1.2% | -15.6% | -45.0% | 33.2% | -9.3% |
29 | Connecticut | 4.0% | -0.9% | -26.4% | -54.2% | 12.6% | -43.8% |
30 | Pennsylvania | 4.1% | -3.3% | -29.2% | -54.6% | -11.4% | -35.2% |
31 | Oklahoma | 3.2% | 5.1% | 3.0% | -44.0% | 2.7% | -17.8% |
32 | Tennessee | 3.4% | -0.2% | -9.4% | -50.1% | 1.6% | -7.2% |
33 | Colorado | 3.4% | -1.9% | -26.8% | -43.8% | 40.3% | -5.9% |
34 | Washington | 3.7% | 0.6% | -20.7% | -51.2% | -8.8% | -2.9% |
35 | North Carolina | 3.6% | 2.6% | -18.8% | -41.7% | -6.6% | -7.1% |
36 | Maryland | 4.0% | -7.0% | -30.2% | -40.6% | 5.2% | -10.1% |
37 | Arkansas | 3.5% | 3.9% | 0.9% | -39.7% | -0.8% | -15.1% |
38 | New York | 4.3% | -8.9% | -28.5% | -58.6% | 6.1% | -15.1% |
39 | Arizona | 3.7% | 6.8% | -9.7% | -46.7% | -20.3% | -9.4% |
40 | Michigan | 4.1% | 0.1% | -26.0% | -52.5% | -2.1% | -12.6% |
41 | New Mexico | 4.2% | -4.3% | -31.9% | -52.7% | -12.1% | -3.5% |
42 | West Virginia | 4.0% | 1.7% | -12.5% | -46.8% | -21.2% | -16.8% |
43 | Oregon | 3.8% | 2.7% | -13.5% | -47.5% | 12.0% | -10.1% |
44 | Ohio | 4.0% | 1.3% | -14.2% | -46.9% | -7.8% | -12.6% |
45 | Kentucky | 3.8% | -0.3% | -19.4% | -22.7% | -7.2% | -8.4% |
46 | Texas | 4.0% | -2.3% | -20.3% | -45.9% | 16.9% | -5.5% |
47 | Delaware | 4.3% | -4.7% | -14.7% | -43.3% | 14.9% | -28.7% |
48 | Nevada | 4.4% | 1.2% | -19.7% | -67.5% | 15.6% | -4.2% |
49 | District of Columbia | 4.7% | -9.0% | -27.4% | -46.3% | -9.6% | -8.6% |
50 | Alaska | 4.4% | -4.1% | -23.5% | -39.7% | -16.6% | 1.7% |
51 | Illinois | 4.5% | 0.2% | -17.3% | -49.0% | 19.7% | -13.6% |
- 1. New Jersey
- 2. Hawaii
- 3. District of Columbia
- 4. Florida
- 5. New York

- 47. Nebraska
- 48. Minnesota
- 49. Arizona
- 50. New Hampshire
- 51. Rhode Island
- 1. New Jersey
- 2. Rhode Island
- 3. Missouri
- 4. California
- 5. Minnesota

- 47. Montana
- 48. Wisconsin
- 49. Indiana
- 50. Arkansas
- 51. Oklahoma