Rise in Unemployment Rate by State 2025
Key Findings
🏆
District of Columbia leads in Increase vs 2024 (percentage points) with 1 in 2025.
📊
Average Increase vs 2024 (percentage points) in 2025: 0.395 · median: 0.30.
↔️
Gap in 2025: District of Columbia is 10× larger than West Virginia.
About This Dataset
Rise in Unemployment Rate by State 2025
What this chart shows. The 42 states, counting the District of Columbia, where the average unemployment rate was higher in 2025 than in 2024, in percentage points. The District of Columbia rose the most, by 1.0 points to 6.3 per cent, followed by Oregon and Delaware, both up 0.9 points.
How the data is collected. The change is the 2025 annual average minus the 2024 annual average, both as published by BLS to one decimal place, so small changes are rounded.
Background. Unemployment rose in 42 of the 51, was unchanged in 2 and fell in 7; the largest falls, 0.4 points, were in Illinois and Hawaii. Nationally, the rate rose 0.3 points.
Limits. A rise of a few tenths of a point is within the margin of error of state estimates, so only the larger increases clearly reflect a weaker job market. The unemployment rate also rises when more people start looking for work.
How the data is collected. The change is the 2025 annual average minus the 2024 annual average, both as published by BLS to one decimal place, so small changes are rounded.
Background. Unemployment rose in 42 of the 51, was unchanged in 2 and fell in 7; the largest falls, 0.4 points, were in Illinois and Hawaii. Nationally, the rate rose 0.3 points.
Limits. A rise of a few tenths of a point is within the margin of error of state estimates, so only the larger increases clearly reflect a weaker job market. The unemployment rate also rises when more people start looking for work.
Analysis
Nevada, one of the few states where unemployment fell, still had the third-highest rate in 2025 at 5.3 per cent.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics (LAUS and CES annual averages)
- Coverage
- 42 entities · 2025 · 42 observations
- Measure
- Increase vs 2024 (percentage points)
- Last updated
- 29 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2025.
An article using this data
US Unemployment Rose in 41 of 50 States in 2025: California Highest, South Dakota Lowest
BLS data for 2025: the US unemployment rate averaged 4.3%, up from 4.0%. California had the highest state rate, 5.5%, South Dakota the lowest, 2.1%, and Idaho g...
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
Was this chart useful?
⚑ Spotted an error in this data? Report it
How these states rank across all our charts
Each state's page lists its position in every state-by-state chart on ANYSTAT.
Cite this chart
Using this chart in an article, report, class or website? Please cite it and link to this page.
Related Charts
More statistics on similar topics
Related
2026-09
6.1
Sugar
View Chart
2 weeks ago
Related
2024
81,872
District of Columbia
View Chart
1 month ago