According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent data broken down by state (released in December for the month of November), Hawaii had the lowest unemployment at 2.0% followed by several Western States including North Dakota (2.6%), Nebraska (2.7%), Colorado, Idaho and Iowa all at 2.9%. Somehow New Hampshire managed to also be among the lowest also at 2.7% with Vermont at 2.9%.
Although California has been touted as having the fastest growing labor force it ranked number 35 in unemployment rates with unemployment at 4.6% well below the national average of 4.1%.
The following table lists the “Seasonally Adjusted” unemployment rate for each state in order from lowest unemployment to highest with Hawaii at the top and Alaska at the bottom.
Unemployment Rates for States, Seasonally Adjusted |
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| State | November 2017 Rate | Rank |
| Hawaii | 2.0% | 1 |
| North Dakota | 2.6% | 2 |
| Nebraska | 2.7% | 3 |
| New Hampshire | 2.7% | 3 |
| Colorado | 2.9% | 5 |
| Idaho | 2.9% | 5 |
| Iowa | 2.9% | 5 |
| Vermont | 2.9% | 5 |
| Minnesota | 3.1% | 9 |
| Tennessee | 3.1% | 9 |
| Utah | 3.2% | 11 |
| Wisconsin | 3.2% | 11 |
| Maine | 3.3% | 13 |
| Missouri | 3.4% | 14 |
| Alabama | 3.5% | 15 |
| Kansas | 3.5% | 15 |
| South Dakota | 3.5% | 15 |
| Florida | 3.6% | 18 |
| Massachusetts | 3.6% | 18 |
| Arkansas | 3.7% | 20 |
| Indiana | 3.7% | 20 |
| Virginia | 3.7% | 20 |
| Texas | 3.8% | 23 |
| Maryland | 3.9% | 24 |
| Montana | 4.0% | 25 |
| South Carolina | 4.0% | 25 |
| Oklahoma | 4.2% | 27 |
| Oregon | 4.2% | 27 |
| Arizona | 4.3% | 29 |
| Georgia | 4.3% | 29 |
| North Carolina | 4.3% | 29 |
| Rhode Island | 4.3% | 29 |
| Wyoming | 4.3% | 29 |
| Washington | 4.5% | 34 |
| California | 4.6% | 35 |
| Connecticut | 4.6% | 35 |
| Michigan | 4.6% | 35 |
| Pennsylvania | 4.6% | 35 |
| Delaware | 4.7% | 39 |
| Kentucky | 4.7% | 39 |
| Louisiana | 4.7% | 39 |
| New York | 4.7% | 39 |
| Mississippi | 4.8% | 43 |
| Ohio | 4.8% | 43 |
| Illinois | 4.9% | 45 |
| Nevada | 5.0% | 46 |
| New Jersey | 5.1% | 47 |
| West Virginia | 5.3% | 48 |
| New Mexico | 6.1% | 49 |
| District of Columbia | 6.4% | 50 |
| Alaska | 7.2% | 51 |
| Red= Republican, Blue= Democrat, Purple = Mixed | ||
State Unemployment Rates by Political Affiliation
In this article State Unemployment Rates vs Political Party Affiliation we looked at the September 2012 state unemployment rates compared to how those states voted in the 2012 Presidential election. We found a fairly high correlation between lower unemployment rates = Republican voters and High Unemployment states = Democrat voters. So as a follow-up we are wondering if the correlation still holds for the 2016 election a year on.
First we find that the top 10 spots (lowest unemployment rates) are evenly split 5 Republican and 5 Democrat. Of the bottom 10 spots (highest unemployment rates) 6 are Democrat and 4 are Republican so the results are much less obvious. All-in-all, the average of Democrat voting states is 4.2% and for Republican voting states is 4.0%. This may be partially the result of some traditional Democrat states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and West Virginia voting Republican this past election. Alaska and Hawaii tend to skew the results a bit as well. If we eliminate the highest and lowest numbers we get 4.3% Democrat unemployment and 3.9% Republican unemployment. In the above table we color coded the unemployment rank by political affiliation with Red being Republican, Blue being Democrat and Purple being mixed. The only truly mixed Democrat/Republican state was Maine. Hawaii was mixed Democrat, Washington was as well. Texas was mixed Republican.
