Special Feature · US Economy
Historical State Unemployment Rates Since 1976
Since 1976
Unemployment (and employment) data for all 50 states from January 1st, 1976 · Bureau of Labor Statistics
50 statesplus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico
Jan 1976First month of data
September 2026Data current as of
October 25th, 2026Data last updated
01Look Up a State Unemployment Rate
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is kind enough to provide historical unemployment (and employment) data for all 50 states from January 1st, 1976 until present day.
Simply choose the state, month and year using our tool below:
To see how states moved over time, compare up to five states on one chart in the next section.
Your result will display here
Note: All data found on this page is seasonally adjusted.
Note: This Data is current as of September, 2026 and includes Puerto Rico
Data last updated on October 25th, 2026
02Compare States Over Time
Pick up to five states (or the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) and a date range. The chart, the summary table and the downloads all follow your selection, and the link button saves the exact view so you can share it.
Loading the comparison tool...
03General Data
Every State, Every Month Since 1976
General data can be found below:
States and territories with the highest unemployment rates, September 2026:
| State | Rate |
|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | 6.2% |
| District of Columbia | 5.6% |
| California | 5.1% |
| Connecticut | 5.1% |
| Michigan | 5.0% |
States and territories with the lowest unemployment rates, September 2026:
| State | Rate |
|---|---|
| South Dakota | 2.0% |
| North Dakota | 2.2% |
| New Hampshire | 2.6% |
| Vermont | 2.6% |
| Hawaii | 2.8% |
04Records Since 1976
The five highest single-month rates on record (any state, DC or Puerto Rico) are:
| State | Rate | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 30.5% | 04/2020 |
| Nevada | 24.7% | 05/2020 |
| Puerto Rico | 24.0% | 02/1983 |
| Puerto Rico | 23.9% | 01/1983 |
| Puerto Rico | 23.8% | 03/1983 |
The five lowest single-month rates on record (any state, DC or Puerto Rico) are:
| State | Rate | Month |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 1.7% | 02/2024 |
| South Dakota | 1.7% | 03/2024 |
| South Dakota | 1.8% | 01/2023 |
| South Dakota | 1.8% | 02/2023 |
| South Dakota | 1.8% | 03/2023 |
05Find Out Answers to Questions Such As
- What was Alabama's unemployment rate in January of 1976?
- What was Alaska's unemployment rate in February of 1977?
- What was Arizona's unemployment rate in March of 1978?
- What was Arkansas's unemployment rate in April of 1979?
- What was California's unemployment rate in May of 1980?
- What was Colorado's unemployment rate in June of 1981?
- What was Connecticut's unemployment rate in July of 1982?
- What was Delaware's unemployment rate in August of 1983?
- What was the District of Columbia's unemployment rate in September of 1984?
- What was Florida's unemployment rate in October of 1985?
- What was Georgia's unemployment rate in November of 1986?
- What was Hawaii's unemployment rate in December of 1987?
- What was Idaho's unemployment rate in 1988?
- What was Illinois's unemployment rate in 1989?
- What was Indiana's unemployment rate in 1990?
- What was Iowa's unemployment rate in 1991?
- What was Kansas' unemployment rate in 1992?
- What was Kentucky's unemployment rate in 1993?
- What was Louisiana's unemployment rate in 1994?
- What was Maine's unemployment rate in 1995?
- What was Maryland's unemployment rate in 1996?
- What was Massachusetts' unemployment rate in 1997?
- What was Michigan's unemployment rate in 1998?
- What was Minnesota's unemployment rate in 1999?
- What was Mississippi's unemployment rate in 2000?
- What was Missouri's unemployment rate in 2001?
- What was Montana's unemployment rate in 2002?
- What was Nebraska's unemployment rate in 2003?
- What was Nevada's unemployment rate in 2004?
- What was New Hampshire's unemployment rate in 2005?
- What was New Jersey's unemployment rate in 2006?
- What was New Mexico's unemployment rate in 2007?
- What was North Carolina's unemployment rate in 2008?
- What was North Dakota's unemployment rate in 2009?
- What was Ohio's unemployment rate in 2010?
- What was Oklahoma's unemployment rate in 2011?
- What was Oregon's unemployment rate in 2012?
- What was Pennsylvania's unemployment rate in January of 1980?
- What was Rhode Island's unemployment rate in February of 1981?
- What was South Carolina's unemployment rate in March of 1982?
- What was South Dakota's unemployment rate in April of 1983?
- What was Tennessee's unemployment rate in May of 1984?
- What was Texas' unemployment rate in June of 1985?
- What was Utah's unemployment rate in July of 1986?
- What was Vermont's unemployment rate in August of 1987?
- What was Virginia's unemployment rate in September of 1988?
- What was Washington's unemployment rate in October of 1989?
- What was West Virginia's unemployment rate in November of 1990?
- What was Wyoming's unemployment rate in December of 1991?
- What was the lowest unemployment rate in California's history?
- What was the highest unemployment rate in New York's history?
06Data Source
Corrections and Updates
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| October 25, 2026 | Broken state lookup (missing unemploycalc2.php) replaced with a lookup answered by the page itself. |
| October 24, 2026 | Removed a duplicate Puerto Rico entry from the state list and pointed the source link at the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. |
Every correction to a published figure on this site is logged on Sources and Methods.
Cite This Page
This page is free to cite and link. Its figures come from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics and are kept current, so please include the date you accessed it.
| Format | Citation | Copy |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | Dave Manuel, “Historical State Unemployment Rates,” DaveManuel.com, updated October 27, 2026, https://www.davemanuel.com/historical-state-unemployment-rates.php (accessed November 6, 2026). | Copy |
| APA | Manuel, D. (2026). Historical State Unemployment Rates. DaveManuel.com. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://www.davemanuel.com/historical-state-unemployment-rates.php | Copy |
| Chicago | Manuel, Dave. “Historical State Unemployment Rates.” DaveManuel.com. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://www.davemanuel.com/historical-state-unemployment-rates.php. | Copy |
| Wikipedia | {{cite web |url=https://www.davemanuel.com/historical-state-unemployment-rates.php |title=Historical State Unemployment Rates |last=Manuel |first=Dave |website=DaveManuel.com |access-date=2026-11-06}} | Copy |
| Link (HTML) | <a href="https://www.davemanuel.com/historical-state-unemployment-rates.php">Historical State Unemployment Rates (DaveManuel.com)</a> | Copy |
Source data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics. Updates: Monthly. Page last updated October 27, 2026. How we build our data pages.