South Dakota posted the lowest jobless rate among all US states in March at 1.9%, the US Bureau of Statistics reported today. The next lowest rates were in Nebraska and North Dakota at 2.1% each.

In addition, seven states in March posted their lowest jobless rates since 1976: Alabama, 2.3%; Arkansas, 3.0%; Maryland, 2.7%; Mississippi, 3.5%; Montana, 2.3%; West Virginia, 3.4%; and Wisconsin, 2.5%.

Meanwhile, Nevada had the highest unemployment rate among all states in March at 5.5%.

The state with the largest year-over-year decrease in its jobless rate was New Mexico, down 1.1 percentage points to 3.5%.

On the flip side, the largest year-over-year unemployment rate increase occurred in Oregon, up 0.9 percentage points to 4.4%.