Map show unemployment rates by state

Good to see Illinois up there on the podium.

The states with the lowest rates are found in the north, with the Dakotas recording extremely low levels at around 2%. Vermont also ranks well (2.1%), as does New Hampshire (2.5%) and Nebraska (2.6%).

At the other end of the spectrum, the District of Columbia has the highest share of job seekers at 5.5%, more than Illinois (5.2%) and Nevada (5.4%) — home to Las Vegas, the city that was hit hardest by the pandemic, where jobless rates hit a staggering 34% in 2020. California, the country’s largest state by economic output, also has much higher than average unemployment, at 5.2%.