WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Joint Economic Committee released its monthly State Employment Update, outlining the employment situation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In December, among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, unemployment fell in 8 States, rose in 21, and remained unchanged in 22. The highest unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in the District of Columbia, and the lowest was 2.2 percent in Hawaii and South Dakota.

Nationally the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent. Compared to the national unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, in December, 35 States were lower, and 15 states and the District of Columbia were higher. In comparison to the national labor force participation rate of 62.4 percent in December, 21 states were lower, Montana was the same, and 28 states and the District of Columbia were higher.

Also, in December, payroll jobs rose in 23 states and fell in 27. The largest payroll job percent increase was 0.4 percent in Delaware and Montana while the largest decline was 0.3 percent in Kansas and Nebraska.

For the full report, and to see more details on the employment situation in each State and the District of Columbia visit: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/employment-update#seu 

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