Jobless Rate Was the Lowest Ever in a Dozen US States Last Month

A dozen US states saw their unemployment rates fall to a record low last month, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Eighteen states saw a decline in unemployment rates in March, while the rest were essentially unchanged, a BLS report published Friday shows. The biggest declines came in New Hampshire, Oregon and West Virginia, where the rate dropped by 0.3 percentage point in each case. Mississippi, one of the poorest US states, saw a decline of 0.2 percentage point to 3.5%.

Among the states posting new record lows for unemployment was Ohio, where the rate fell ...