US Labor Department: only 3 states still have double-digit unemployment rates

Only three states are still enduring double-digit unemployment, the Labor Department said today, according to the Street: Nevada (12.3 percent), Rhode Island (11 percent) and California (10.9 percent). Nationwide, the unemployment rate is 8.3 percent.

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The Labor Department said jobless rates dropped last month in 29 US states, stayed the same in 13 states and Washington, DC, and rose in eight states, the Associated Press reported.

The data show that people are finding jobs in some states that were particularly hard hit by the recession, the AP reported. In February, Michigan’s unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent, down from a peak of 14.2 percent in August 2009, and South Carolina’s unemployment rate fell to 9.1 percent, down from 11.5 percent a year earlier. Workers in both states are benefiting from the resurgent automobile industry, the AP noted.

Employers added jobs in 42 states in February, with Ohio, Texas and New York gaining the most new positions, according to the AP.

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