If economists consider a 5% unemployment rate the definition for “full employment,” then how is the unemployment rate in South Dakota defined? It was 2.7% in June, the lowest in the nation. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.9% for June.

The state unemployment rates are lowest in the Plains states and northern New England. The only obvious thing they have in common is low population rates.

The unemployment rate in Montana was 4.2% last month. It was 3.2% in North Dakota and 3.7% in Idaho.

In New Hampshire, unemployment in June was 2.8%, the second lowest in the nation. In Vermont the figure was 3.2% and in Maine 3.7%.

As for the rest of the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Unemployment rates were significantly higher in June in 6 states, lower in 1 state, and stable in 43 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sixteen states and the District had notable unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, 2 states had increases, and 32
states had no significant change. The national jobless rate rose by 0.2 percentage point from May to 4.9 percent but was 0.4 point lower than in June 2015. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 18 states in June 2016, decreased in 3 states and the District of Columbia, and was essentially unchanged in 29 states. Over the year, 35 states added appreciable numbers of nonfarm payroll jobs, 2 states lost jobs, and 13 states and the District were essentially unchanged.

Also:

South Dakota and New Hampshire had the lowest jobless rates in June, 2.7 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. Alaska had the highest unemployment rate, 6.7 percent. In total, 21 states had unemployment rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 4.9 percent, 14 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 15 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Perhaps the only other thing the lowest unemployment states have in common is that they are cold in the winter.

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