U.S. monthly state unemployment rate October 2022

In October 2022, Illinois and Nevada had the highest unemployment rates of any state in the United States, both with an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent respectively. The District of Columbia however, had an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent during the same time period.

Unemployment in the U.S.

A person is considered unemployed if they have no job and are currently looking for a job and available to work. The unemployment rate in the United States varies across states. Nation-wide unemployment was 3.5 percent as of September, 2022. Unemployment can be affected by various factors including economic conditions and global competition. During economic prosperity, unemployment rates generally decrease and during times of recession, rates increase. Many Americans believe that job creation should be one of the most important priorities set by the government. Since 1990, the country’s annual unemployment rate reached a low of 3.7 percent in 2019, and rose to 8.1 percent in 2020, dropping to 5.3 percent in 2021. It has been argued that the definition of unemployment is too narrow and does not include some groups of people, such as the “underemployed” and the “hidden unemployed.”