On Friday, November 18th, 2022, The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its breakdown of the unemployment rates for each individual state for October.
In the chart below, the lightest colors represent the states with the lowest unemployment rates.
Looking at the above map, we can see that generally, the lowest unemployment states run diagonally across the country, starting in Florida and ending in Montana and Idaho. Conversely, the states with the highest unemployment are located in the North East, the South West, and West Coast. Of course, minor exceptions exist, but generally, it holds.
October 2022 Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate by State Table (Alphabetical)
| State | October 2022(P) Rate |
| Alabama | 2.7 |
| Alaska | 4.5 |
| Arizona | 3.9 |
| Arkansas | 3.6 |
| California | 4.0 |
| Colorado | 3.6 |
| Connecticut | 4.3 |
| Delaware | 4.3 |
| District of Columbia | 4.8 |
| Florida | 2.7 |
| Georgia | 2.9 |
| Hawaii | 3.4 |
| Idaho | 2.9 |
| Illinois | 4.6 |
| Indiana | 3.0 |
| Iowa | 2.9 |
| Kansas | 2.8 |
| Kentucky | 3.9 |
| Louisiana | 3.3 |
| Maine | 3.6 |
| Maryland | 4.5 |
| Massachusetts | 3.5 |
| Michigan | 4.2 |
| Minnesota | 2.1 |
| Mississippi | 3.8 |
| Missouri | 2.6 |
| Montana | 3.0 |
| Nebraska | 2.4 |
| Nevada | 4.6 |
| New Hampshire | 2.4 |
| New Jersey | 3.5 |
| New Mexico | 4.3 |
| New York | 4.4 |
| North Carolina | 3.8 |
| North Dakota | 2.3 |
| Ohio | 4.2 |
| Oklahoma | 3.4 |
| Oregon | 4.1 |
| Pennsylvania | 4.0 |
| Rhode Island | 3.4 |
| South Carolina | 3.3 |
| South Dakota | 2.4 |
| Tennessee | 3.5 |
| Texas | 4.0 |
| Utah | 2.1 |
| Vermont | 2.3 |
| Virginia | 2.7 |
| Washington | 3.8 |
| West Virginia | 4.0 |
| Wisconsin | 3.3 |
| Wyoming | 3.5 |
States with the Highest Unemployment Rates
The record for the highest unemployment goes as usual to the State that is not really a “state”, i.e., D.C. at 4.8%. Puerto Rico is usually ranked among those with the worst unemployment but avoided that “honor” this month by not having its data available. Slightly better than D.C. is Nevada and Illinois at 4.6%, followed by Maryland, and Alaska at 4.5%.