Unemployment rates vary by state. Where does Utah rank?

Unemployment rates in America have remained relatively unchanged over the past year. However, May saw a slight increase from 3.7% to 4.0%. There are currently 6.6 million unemployed people across the country, with 20.7% (1.4 million) of them identifying as long-term unemployed, meaning they have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor statistics can report.

WalletHub examined the fluctuation of unemployment rates by state in a weekly analysis between May 27, 2024 and 2023.

States with the most unemployment claims:

1. North Dakota.
2. Minnesota.
3. Iowa.
4. Massachusetts.
5. Pennsylvania.

States with the fewest unemployment claims:

1. Ohio.
2. Kentucky.
3. Utah.
4. Georgia.
5. Indiana

The report also found that states that generally vote Republican have lower unemployment than their Democratic counterparts.

“One of the top-performing states, Texas, had the third-highest GDP growth in the nation, in part because the state added more people last year than any other year,” per ABC News. “San Antonio, one of the largest cities in the state, has an unemployment rate of 3.1%, putting it below the national average of 3.7%.

In a post on X earlier this month, President Joe Biden defended his role in keeping unemployment rates consistent since he took office. “The great American comeback continues. On my watch, 15.6 million more Americans have the dignity and respect that comes with a job, and unemployment has been at or below 4% for 30 months. I will continue to fight to reduce costs for families like the ones I grew up with.â€

What does this mean for the labor market?

Even with the 15.6 million new jobs claimed by Biden, the increase in unemployment was linearly related to the slight decrease in job openings last year.

According to NerdWallet, the job opening rate was 6% in April 2023 and 4.8% a year later. “In recent months, key labor market indicators – job openings, the attrition rate and layoffs – have shown that the tight labor market is beginning to loosen. But continued job growth combined with unemployment remaining below 4% indicates that the labor market remains resilient.

Opinions on whether the labor market is employee-friendly vary.

“Although the ratio of job openings to available workers has been declining, we still have 20% more open positions than people to fill them,” said Rob Haworth, senior director, via US Bank. of investment strategy at US Bank Wealth Management. “This imbalance still favors workers and this could keep wage pressures high.”

But David Yamada, a law professor and director of the New Workplace Institute at Suffolk University Law School, told WalletHub that the job market is not tilted in favor of workers. “The labor market is less worker-friendly than it was during the most acute labor shortage and Great Recession just two years ago, but the unemployment rate remains low and employment in many areas remains stable. That said , older workers and laid-off workers continue to report encountering barriers in their job searches.