Nevada Passes Michigan In Unemployment Rate, Motor State Held Top Spot Since April 2006

After four years, Michigan lost its spot as the unemployment leader in the U.S., according to May numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment fell in 37 states during the month.

Nevada took Michigan’s spot with an unemployment rate of 14% percent in May. It was the first month in which Nevada recorded the highest rate among the 50 states.

The unemployment rate in Michigan was still a stunning 13.6%.

The reason for a steadying of the rate in Michigan that the auto firms probably did most of their layoffs in 2008 and 2009. Some of these companies are already hiring back very small numbers of workers. Several car companies will keep factories open during the summer instead of going through several weeks of shut-downs as they have in years past.Nevada’s employment has relied very heavily on gaming and construction. Both have been severely undermined by the recession.

Rounding out the top unemployment among the four states with highest percentage of people out of work were California at 12.6% and Rhode Island at 12.3%. The states with the lowest unemployment were North Dakota at 3.6%, South Dakota at 4.6%,  and Nebraska at 4.9%.

States with unemployment rates significantly differ-
ent from that of the U.S., May 2010, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
                State                |          Rate(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................|           9.7
                                     |
Alaska ..............................|           8.3
Arkansas ............................|           7.7
California ..........................|          12.4
Colorado ............................|           8.0
Delaware ............................|           8.8
Florida .............................|          11.7
Hawaii ..............................|           6.6
Illinois ............................|          10.8
Iowa ................................|           6.8
Kansas ..............................|           6.5
                                     |
Louisiana ...........................|           6.9
Maine ...............................|           8.0
Maryland ............................|           7.2
Michigan ............................|          13.6
Minnesota ...........................|           7.0
Mississippi .........................|          11.4
Montana .............................|           7.2
Nebraska ............................|           4.9
Nevada ..............................|          14.0
New Hampshire .......................|           6.4
                                     |
New Mexico ..........................|           8.4
New York ............................|           8.3
North Dakota ........................|           3.6
Ohio ................................|          10.7
Oklahoma ............................|           6.7
Rhode Island ........................|          12.3
South Carolina ......................|          11.0
South Dakota ........................|           4.6
Texas ...............................|           8.3
Utah ................................|           7.3
                                     |
Vermont .............................|           6.2
Virginia ............................|           7.1
Wisconsin ...........................|           8.2
Wyoming .............................|           7.0
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 Data are not preliminary.
p = preliminary.

Source: BLS

Douglas A. McIntyre