Unemployment topped 10% in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month, according to federal data released today. The rate in Michigan surpassed 15%, the first time any state hit that mark since 1984.
Louisiana continued to rank low for unemployment. The statewide rate was 6.8% in June. The Federal Reserve this week projected that the national unemployment rate, currently at a 26-year high of 9.5%, will pass 10% by the end of the year. Most Fed policymakers say it could take “five or six years” for the economy and the labor market to get back on a path of long-term health. To get there, consumers must return to a regular spending groove and housing prices need to start rising again.
Home to the nation’s struggling automakers, Michigan has been clobbered by lost factory jobs. Its jobless rate of 15.2% in June was the highest in the country. The state unemployment report underscores the damage that the longest recession since World War II has inflicted on companies, workers and communities.
The other 14 states where unemployment topped 10% last month were Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. The states with the lowest unemployment rates in June were North Dakota at 4.2%, Nebraska at 5% and South Dakota at 5.1%.
