Maryland and North Dakota posted the lowest jobless rates among all US states in December 2023 at 1.9% each, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The next lowest rate was in South Dakota at 2.0%.

On the other hand, Nevada posted the highest unemployment rate among all states in December at 5.4%.

In total, 16 states had unemployment rates lower than the US figure of 3.7%, five states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 29 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the national figure.

Among all states, Maryland and Oregon recorded the largest year-over-year jobless rate decreases in December, each down 1.1 percentage point. Oregon’s unemployment rate was 3.7%.

Conversely, New Jersey had the largest year-over-year unemployment rate increase in December, up 1.5 percentage points to 4.8%.