Editor's Note: This report is based on survey data from January 2025 that was published in March 2025. This is the most recent data available. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)‍

Nearly 150 thousand jobs were added by US employers in February - the month when this data was collected - and the national unemployment rate fell by one-tenth of a point to 4%.

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Looking at the state data, however, there was very little movement of significance in state unemployment levels, with the exception of Pennsylvania which recorded a 0.1% increase in state unemployment, rising from 3.7% to 3.8%. 

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Similarly, despite the net job additions, no state recorded a significant increase in payroll figures, but 4 states actually saw a reduction in in-state employment: Georgia, Missouri, and West Virginia, which all recorded a 0.6% decrease in employment, and Indiana, which recorded a 0.4% decrease.

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Below is the breakdown of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) market employment summary for February 2025.

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States With the Highest Unemployment Rates

For the third month in a row, Nevada had the highest unemployment rate, which is up slightly at 5.8%, followed by California at 5.4%, which is down from 5.5% the month before.

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Washington DC, Kentucky, and Michigan all came in at 5.3% unemployment, but Washington DC is dropping while Kentucky and Michigan are seeing unemployment climb.

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Illinois - at 4.9% unemployment - was the only other state above the national average of 4% during February.

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Over the last year, 32 states have recorded an increase in unemployment, the largest of which was reported in Michigan, which saw its level of unemployment rise from 4.0% to 5.3% between January 2024 and January 2025.

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Colorado and South Carolina also saw a significant increase in unemployment over the course of the last 12 months when both saw a 0.9% increase, while Mississippi and Wyoming fared nearly as poorly at plus 0.8% unemployment.

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States With The Lowest Unemployment Rates

As we entered the new year, South Dakota held steady at 1.9% unemployment and continued its streak of maintaining the lowest unemployment rate in the country, which stretches for 13 consecutive months now. 

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North Dakota and Vermont had the next lowest unemployment levels at 2.6%, followed by Montana at 2.8% and Nebraska and New Hampshire at 2.9%.

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17 states in total had unemployment rates below the national average.

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Over the last 12 months, only Montana and Washington state have registered decreases in unemployment at 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

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States With New Job Losses

Georgia had the largest net loss in jobs, recording a net decrease in its workforce of more than 28 thousand over the course of the month, which represents a 0.6% decrease.

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Missouri and West Virginia each recorded workforce reductions of 0.6% as well, though the net job losses at minus 17 thousand and about minus 4 thousand, respectively, were much smaller than in Georgia due to their relatively smaller populations.

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Indiana also saw a reduction in its workforce, which amounted to a drop of about 0.4% and amounted to a little less than 13 thousand jobs. 

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States With New Job Gains

No state saw statistically significant job gains over the month, although 17 states did record net increases in jobs over the last year.

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Alaska and Idaho had the largest percentage gains in workforce size at plus 2.8% over the year, followed by Texas at 2.4% and Utah at 2.1%.

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Texas, Florida, and New York saw the largest number of net new jobs over the last 12 months at about plus 14 thousand, 10 thousand, and 10 thousand respectively. 

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Mployer’s Take

Due to the timing of the latest state release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this report came out much later than usual relative to the collection of the data that the report is based on, and we’ll actually be getting updated data from the states by the end of the week at this point.

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In fact, we’ve already seen follow-up data on the employment situation nationally, which showed the unemployment rate tick up by a tenth of a point despite the addition of another 150 thousand jobs to US payrolls. 

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On Friday when we get new state employment data again, it will likely look very similar to this set, although it will be interesting and informative to see which additional states start to see their unemployment rates moving in the wrong direction.

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But in terms of the bigger picture, our analysis and the economy itself in many ways are in a holding pattern in the short term as the policy changes overseen by the new administration begin to manifest and the real-world impacts become more clear. 

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We’ll check in after the new data is made available later this week, and it’s possible there will be additional noteworthy developments between now and then - potentially including additional stock market volatility and/or new policy announcements - but barring major unforeseen developments, the next report will closely resemble this one.

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It will take a bit more time before the full momentum and trajectory of the US economy can fully respond to policy changes that have already occurred - not to mention whatever additional changes may be in store - but we’ll be keeping an eye out in the meantime for noteworthy markers pointing toward what’s to come as they start to appear.

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