Unemployment up in 28 states in June

By Hayley Tsukayama

Unemployment rates rose in 28 states and the District in June, the Labor Department announced in a report Friday. The U.S. unemployment rate is now 9.2 percent.

The unemployment rate for the District surpassed the national rate, rising to 10.4 percent. In Maryland, the rate rose to 7 percent; Virginia has a 6 percent unemployment rate.

The report also highlighted that Virginia lost 14,600 jobs in June.

Only eight states saw rates decline in June, and unemployment remained flat in 14. This month’s numbers stand in stark contrast to the department’s May report, which reported that 24 states had falling unemployment rates.

This June’s numbers do show, however, that 39 states saw a rate decrease from the previous year.

Nevada and California had the highest unemployment rates in June, with 12.4 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively. At 3.2 percent unemployment, North Dakota had the lowest rate in the country, followed by Nebraska and Montana, which both posted a 4.1 percent rate.

When it comes to jobs, the report found that 24 states saw a net loss in jobs and 26 saw a net gain. Compared to last year, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming saw the greatest percentage increase in jobs. Job loss hit Kansas, Maryland, Delaware and Georgia the hardest.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pol ... _blog.html