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Thirty states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate increases in January from a month earlier, while states registered rate decreases, the Labor Department said. But in a sign the job market is inching toward recovery 31 states added jobs in the first month of the year.
In January, the overall U.S. unemployment rate fell to 9.7% from 10% a month earlier, while the nation’s economy shed 26,000 jobs. The job losses continued in February amid strong weather effects, but the jobless rate remained at 9.7%.
Michigan continued to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation, though the state posted a month-over-month decline of 0.2 percentage point. Mississippi notched the biggest gain in its jobless rate, increasing 0.4 percentage point to 10.9%.
Unemployment Rate, by State
| State | December 2009 Jobless Rate | January 2010 Jobless Rate | Month-to-Month Change |
| Alabama | 10.9% | 11.1% | 0.2 |
| Alaska | 8.6% | 8.5% | -0.1 |
| Arizona | 9.2% | 9.2% | 0 |
| Arkansas | 7.6% | 7.6% | 0 |
| California | 12.3% | 12.5% | 0.2 |
| Colorado | 7.3% | 7.4% | 0.1 |
| Connecticut | 8.8% | 9% | 0.2 |
| Delaware | 8.8% | 9% | 0.2 |
| District of Columbia | 11.9% | 12% | 0.1 |
| Florida | 11.7% | 11.9% | 0.2 |
| Georgia | 10.3% | 10.4% | 0.1 |
| Hawaii | 6.8% | 6.9% | 0.1 |
| Idaho | 9.1% | 9.3% | 0.2 |
| Illinois | 11% | 11.3% | 0.3 |
| Indiana | 9.7% | 9.7% | 0 |
| Iowa | 6.5% | 6.6% | 0.1 |
| Kansas | 6.5% | 6.4% | -0.1 |
| Kentucky | 10.6% | 10.7% | 0.1 |
| Louisiana | 7.3% | 7.4% | 0.1 |
| Maine | 8.1% | 8.2% | 0.1 |
| Maryland | 7.4% | 7.5% | 0.1 |
| Massachusetts | 9.3% | 9.5% | 0.2 |
| Michigan | 14.5% | 14.3% | -0.2 |
| Minnesota | 7.4% | 7.3% | -0.1 |
| Mississippi | 10.5% | 10.9% | 0.4 |
| Missouri | 9.6% | 9.5% | -0.1 |
| Montana | 6.7% | 6.8% | 0.1 |
| Nebraska | 4.6% | 4.6% | 0 |
| Nevada | 13% | 13% | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 6.9% | 7% | 0.1 |
| New Jersey | 10% | 9.9% | -0.1 |
| New Mexico | 8.2% | 8.5% | 0.3 |
| New York | 8.9% | 8.8% | -0.1 |
| North Carolina | 10.9% | 11.1% | 0.2 |
| North Dakota | 4.3% | 4.2% | -0.1 |
| Ohio | 10.8% | 10.8% | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 6.8% | 6.7% | -0.1 |
| Oregon | 10.6% | 10.7% | 0.1 |
| Pennsylvania | 8.8% | 8.8% | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 12.7% | 12.7% | 0 |
| South Carolina | 12.4% | 12.6% | 0.2 |
| South Dakota | 4.7% | 4.8% | 0.1 |
| Tennessee | 10.7% | 10.7% | 0 |
| Texas | 8.2% | 8.2% | 0 |
| Utah | 6.6% | 6.8% | 0.2 |
| Vermont | 6.7% | 6.7% | 0 |
| Virginia | 6.8% | 6.9% | 0.1 |
| Washington | 9.2% | 9.3% | 0.1 |
| West Virginia | 9% | 9.3% | 0.3 |
| Wisconsin | 8.5% | 8.7% | 0.2 |
| Wyoming | 7.5% | 7.6% | 0.1 |
Source: Labor Department