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Offline California, Delaware, South Carolina and Florida registered record rates of unemployment in October, the Labor Department said Friday.
Joblessness rose in 29 states last month compared with 22 in September, the agency said in a monthly state breakdown. Michigan had the highest jobless rate at 15.1 percent, followed by Nevada at 13 percent and Rhode Island at 12.9 percent.The unemployment rate fell in 13 states, including Massachusetts, where it declined to 8.9 percent from 9.3 percent; New Hampshire, with a drop to 6.8 percent from 7.2 percent; and West Virginia, which fell to 8.5 percent from 8.9 percent.
The number of states with at least 10 percent unemployment held at 14 last month, the Labor Department’s report showed. In the states reporting record jobless rates, California was at 12.5 percent; South Carolina, 12.1 percent; Florida, 11.2 percent; and Delaware at 8.7 percent. The District of Columbia also set a high with an 11.9 percent rate. “Virtually every sector aside from the health care sector is losing jobs,” said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla. “Housing has been central to Florida’s economic story throughout the entire cycle. Unfortunately, it has spread well beyond the sectors directly involved in the housing market.”
Payrolls declined last month in 21 states, the report showed. New York showed the biggest drop, with 15,300 jobs lost. Florida had 8,500 job losses, followed by Georgia with 7,500 and Virginia with 7,100. Over the last year, California showed the biggest loss of jobs, with payrolls falling by 687,700 workers, the report showed.
MOHAMMED OMER
