Unemployment was up in 44 States, down in two states, down in D.C, and unchanged in four others. There has been no improvement nationally this year.



Bloomberg reports U.S. Joblessness Rise Broad-Based as 44 States Show Gain



The jobless rate climbed in 44 U.S. states in July, showing last month’s increase in unemployment was broad based.



Alabama and Alaska registered the worst performance, with joblessness advancing by 0.5 percentage point in each, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Payrolls grew in 31 states last month, led by California and Michigan.



Unemployment jumped to 8.3 percent in Alabama from 7.8 percent in June, and climbed to 7.7 percent in Alaska from 7.2 percent, today’s report showed. Nevada, where the rate rose to 12 percent from 11.6 percent, remained the state with the highest level of joblessness in the country.



Rhode Island, at 10.8 percent, was second, followed by California at 10.7 percent.



North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, even as it rose to 3 percent from 2.9 percent the prior month.



Two states, Idaho and Rhode Island, showed a drop in their unemployment rates. Joblessness was unchanged in four states.



Unemployment in New York rose to 9.1 percent, the highest since 1983, and payrolls dropped by 3,700 workers.



The jobless rate has exceeded 8 percent for 42 consecutive months, the longest stretch in the post-World War II era.

Quick Notes About the Unemployment Rate



US Unemployment Rate +.1 to 8.3%

In the last year, the civilian population rose by 3,683,000. Yet the labor force only rose by 1,655,000.

This month the Civilian Labor Force fell by 150,000.

This month, those "not" in the labor force increased by 348,000 to 88,340,000, another record high. If you are not in the labor force, you are not counted as unemployed.

In the last year, those "not" in the labor force rose by 2,027,000.

Over the course of the last year, the number of people employed rose by 2,770,000.

Participation Rate was steady at 63.8%.

There are 8,246,000 workers who are working part-time but want full-time work, an increase of 36,000

Long-Term unemployment (27 weeks and over) was 5.185 million a decline of 185,000.

Were it not for people dropping out of the labor force, the unemployment rate would be well over 11%.

Over the past several years people have dropped out of the labor force at an astounding, almost unbelievable rate, holding the unemployment rate artificially low. Some of this was due to major revisions last month on account of the 2010 census finally factored in. However, most of it is simply economic weakness.