Seven states post jobless rates above 10 percent

Seven states posted unemployment rates larger than 10 percent in January, but thankfully Ohio was not one of them, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Michigan was saddled with the nation's highest jobless rate in January, 12.5 percent in statistics that were not seasonally adjusted. It had been the only state to rise above 10 percent during the previous month, December 2008. Also topping the 10-percent mark in January were Rhode Island (11.4 percent unemployment), Oregon (10.9 percent), South Carolina (10.9 percent), California (10.6 percent), North Carolina (10.3 percent) and Nevada (10.2 percent). However, Ohio's unemployment rate was 9.7 percent, just outside the double-digit range. Indiana had a rate of 9.9 percent. Wyoming registered the lowest unemployment rate of any state, 4.8 percent in the first month of 2009. It was the only state to finish under the 5-percent line. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases two sets of unemployment rates each month. Figures that are not seasonally adjusted reflect the actual totals for the month, while numbers that are seasonally adjusted can be more easily compared from month to month. The seasonally adjusted statistics for January showed four states with unemployment of more than 10 percent, led by Michigan at 11.6 percent. The jobless rates for all 50 states were at least one point higher in January 2009 than in the same month a year earlier, on a not seasonally adjusted basis. North Carolina suffered the worst upswing in unemployment, five full points from 5.3 percent at the beginning of 2008 to 10.3 percent at the start of this year. Other sharp year-to-year increases were 4.9 percentage points in Oregon and South Carolina, 4.6 points in Michigan and Indiana, and 4.3 points in Nevada. The smallest jumps between January 2008 and the same month this year were 1.1 points in Iowa and Wyoming.