Unemployment Rate Increases in 30 States Plus District of Columbia

The statewide January unemployment rate worsened in 30 states, including the District of Columbia according to a new report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Five states reported record unemployment numbers — California, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. All but South Carolina rank among the states with the highest illegal alien populations.

Since January 2009, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have seen increases in their number of unemployed while the federal government imported more than 1 million foreign workers.

With massive layoffs in the automotive industry, Michigan still has the nation’s most severe unemployment rate at 14.3%. Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina and California round out the five. Twelve states have unemployment rates above 10%, and only three states – Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota have rates below 6%.

To see the full list of unemployment rates, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics.