2024 Regional and State Unemployment — 2025-03-05

In 2024, annual average unemployment rates increased in 21 states and were little changed in 29 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment-population ratios decreased in 5 states and were little changed in 45 states and the District. The U.S. jobless rate increased by 0.4 percentage point from the prior year to 4.0 percent, while the national employment-population ratio fell by 0.2 point to 60.1 percent. All four census regions had unemployment rate increases from 2023: the Midwest and West (+0.5 percentage point each), South (+0.4 point), and Northeast (+0.3 point). The South registered the lowest jobless rate in 2024, 3.7 percent, while the West had the highest rate, 4.7 percent. (See table 1.) Seven of the 9 geographic divisions had over-the-year unemployment rate changes in 2024, all of which were increases. The largest of these increases occurred in the East North Central (+0.6 percentage point).