For the month of June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that unemployment rates remained stable for the majority of states in its latest report. However, 8 states saw an increase in unemployment, while just one saw a drop.
The eight states that saw an increase in unemployment were Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota and Utah. The increases were either 0.1 or 0.2 percentage points for all states. The sole state that saw a rate decrease was Connecticut, which fell by 0.4 percentage points.
While many states saw no notable changes in June, 31 states had an increase in unemployment rates from June 2023. As a country, there has been a 0.5% increase in unemployment compared to a year ago.
Over the past year, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 27 states, while it remained essentially unchanged in the other 23. The states that saw the largest job gains were Texas, California and Florida.
For the Garden State, the employment rate saw a relatively minor increase, going up by 1.3%, which is roughly 58,000 more people in the workforce compared to June 2023. The number jumped up from 4,330,000 in June 2023 to 4,388,300 in June 2024.
The numbers found in the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics’ shows a steady increase over the past year, following several years of hovering around the same numbers. While the unemployment rate continues to trend upwards, now sitting at 4.1%, it is a significant jump from where we sat in June 2023, but is still capable of dropping.