State unemployment rates for July 2010 have showed an increment in unemployment rates for 14 states. A further 18 states showed no change and the remaining 18 showed a slight decrease. This is a bit gloomier than the June report where only five states posted an increase in jobless rates.
Nevada posted the highest rate with a record high of 14.3% making it the state with the highest unemployment rate for the 16th month in a row. Michigan lagged behind with a 13.1% rate and the next in line was California with a 12.3% rate
On the other side of that, North Dakota was the state with the lowest unemployment rate at 3.6%. Right behind it was South Dakota with 4.4% and Nebraska with 4.7%. Across the board, the nation’s unemployment rate remained unchanged with a 9.5% rate.
Of out four states which had the largest unemployment decrease from June, Alabama showed the biggest difference of -0.6 of a percentage point. States posting considerable rate decreases are Nebraska, North Carolina, and Tennessee with -0.2 of a percentage point each. The remaining 46 states and the District of Columbia did not show a noticeable change in registered jobless rates compared to a month earlier.
The most significant unemployment rate increases were in Nevada, Montana and Pennsylvania and Florida. Eight states reported year-over- year decreases in July, the largest was in Minnesota with -1.5 percentage points. The remaining 38 states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from a year ago.