What this does
The unemployment panel on a state page is a line chart of the state's official monthly unemployment rate over the last five years, or ten if you switch. Its heading reads Unemployment rate, last 5 years. A short line under the chart gives the latest rate, its month, and how much the rate has moved over the span shown.
It helps a student or a parent see whether jobs in the state are getting easier or harder to find, and whether today's rate is high or low against recent years. A counselor can use the ten-year view to show how the state came through past swings.
This panel shows the state on its own. It does not draw a U.S. line beside it. To see the state against the whole country, use the home page: pick the state in Showing data for and its card becomes <State> vs U.S., with both lines on one chart (see National overview).
Before you start
- Open the state page for the state you want. The chart is for that state. Picking another state in Showing data for opens that state's own page.
- The rate here is not seasonally adjusted. It rises and falls with the seasons: school years, holidays, harvests and tourist seasons all show up as regular bumps. Compare a month with the same month a year earlier, not with the month before.
- The newest month is a first estimate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics revises it the next month.
Step by step
- Open the state page and scroll to <State> labor market at a glance. The panel is on the right of the top-growing careers list. Its heading reads Unemployment rate, last 5 years, with 5y and 10y buttons beside it; 5y is selected.
- Read the line under the heading: Official statewide rate from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not seasonally adjusted. For the U.S. comparison, pick this state on the home page. (for the District of Columbia: Official District-wide rate …).
- Look at the chart: a filled blue line, one point per month, oldest on the left. The side axis shows rates with one decimal and a percent sign.
- Hover over or tap a point. A small box shows that month and its rate.
- Read the line under the chart. It starts Latest: with the newest rate and, in brackets, its month, then 5-year change: with an arrow (up, down or level) and the change in percentage points (pp) from the first month on the chart to the last.
- Click 10y. The button turns blue, the chart redraws with up to ten years, the heading changes to Unemployment rate, last 10 years (or the number of years that actually came back), and the note's change is measured over that span.
- Click 5y to go back. The five-year view returns at once, without reloading.
Every control explained
| Control | Where | What it changes | Default | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Showing data for (menu) | Above the page title | Opens the state page of the state you pick; its chart shows that state. | The state of the page you opened | United States goes to the home page, where the U.S. rate is shown. |
| 5y button | Beside the panel heading | Shows the last 60 months. | Selected | The pressed button is filled blue. |
| 10y button | Beside the panel heading | Shows up to the last 120 months: chart, heading and note only. | Not selected | The headline unemployment tile and the other panels do not change. Once loaded, switching back and forth is instant. |
| Points on the line (hover or tap) | The chart | Shows the month and the rate for that point. | — | The chart has no legend and no zoom. On the Texas page's ten-year view the dots are hidden to keep the line readable. |
Reading the results
| Item | Meaning | Unit | Source and year | How it is computed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heading Unemployment rate, last 5 years | How much history the chart shows | Years (or months) | — | The span you chose, cut down to what actually came back: if the data covers less, the heading says so; under a year it reads last N months. |
| Line under the heading | Which series the chart plots | Text | — | Official statewide rate from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not seasonally adjusted. For the U.S. comparison, pick this state on the home page., or the metro-average wording below. |
| The line chart | The state's unemployment rate each month | Percent of the labor force, one decimal | BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, statewide, not seasonally adjusted; latest month September 2026 as of early November 2026 | The newest 60 (or 120) monthly rates the site has loaded, oldest first. |
| Month labels | The month of each point | A date | — | On every state page but Texas, the year, month and the day 01, for example 2026-09-01 for September 2026. On the Texas page, year and month only, for example 2026-09. |
| Latest: | The newest monthly rate and its month | Percent, one decimal | As the chart | The last point on the chart. The same value appears in the headline tile <State> unemployment. |
| 5-year change: (or 10-year change:) | How far the rate has moved over the span | Percentage points (pp), one decimal, with ↑, ↓ or → | As the chart | The last month's rate minus the first month's rate on the chart. The number of years is the number of months shown divided by twelve, rounded. With less than a year of data it counts months instead, for example 6-month change:. |
Seasonally adjusted or not
This chart uses the rate that is not seasonally adjusted: the figure as measured each month. The home page's <State> vs U.S. view uses the seasonally adjusted rate, which smooths out the regular yearly pattern so the state and the U.S. can be compared fairly. That is why the two pages can show different rates for the same state and month.
The newest month
BLS publishes each month's state rate as a first estimate and revises it a month later. The site takes the revised figure when it arrives, so the last point, the Latest: value and the headline tile can change a little.
A missing month
BLS published no state unemployment figures for October 2025, during the federal government shutdown. That month is missing in every state. The line runs straight from September to November 2025, and the five-year view holds one point fewer than sixty.
The metro-area version
If the official statewide series is not loaded for a state, the chart instead shows an average of the state's metro areas, weighted by labor force, and the line under the heading reads Average of <State> metro areas, weighted by labor force (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The official statewide rate isn't available here yet. Not seasonally adjusted. For the U.S. comparison, pick this state on the home page. Months that most metro areas have not reported yet are left out. As of early November 2026, every state shows the official statewide series.
When the panel is empty
- No unemployment data for the state: outside Texas, the heading stays Unemployment rate, last 5 years, the line under it is blank, and the chart area stays empty with no note. On the Texas page the note reads Unemployment data not yet available.
- The labor-market card could not load: outside Texas, the yellow note <State> data is still warming up. appears and the panel keeps its plain heading and the line Unemployment rate from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. with no chart. On the Texas page the whole card stays hidden.
- The chart program did not load in your browser: outside Texas, the heading and note still appear but no chart is drawn. On the Texas page the note reads Texas unemployment chart unavailable in this environment. Reloading the page usually fixes it.
- Could not load 10 years. at the start of the note under the chart: the ten-year data could not be fetched. 5y stays selected and the five-year chart stays. Click 10y again to retry.
Read more about how the figures are produced.
Worked example
A college student in Michigan wonders whether jobs are harder to find than when she started school.
- She opens the Michigan page and scrolls to Unemployment rate, last 5 years. The line under it says the chart is the official statewide rate, not seasonally adjusted, and that the U.S. comparison is on the home page.
- The chart shows about five years of monthly points. The line moves up and down within each year, with a regular seasonal pattern, and drifts over the years.
- Under the chart she reads Latest:, the newest rate with its month written like 2026-09-01, then 5-year change: with an arrow and a change in percentage points.
- To compare fairly, she hovers over the same month a year earlier and reads its rate from the box that appears.
- She clicks 10y. The heading changes to Unemployment rate, last 10 years, and the note's change now covers ten years.
- To see Michigan against the whole country, she clicks Home in the nav. The home page opens set to Michigan, with Michigan vs U.S. and both seasonally adjusted lines on one chart.
Common questions
- Why is there no U.S. line on this chart?
- The state page shows the state on its own. The comparison with the U.S. lives on the home page: pick the state in Showing data for there and the card becomes <State> vs U.S.
- Why does the home page show a different rate for my state?
- The home page compares seasonally adjusted rates; this chart shows the rate that is not seasonally adjusted. Both are official BLS figures for the same month, measured two ways.
- Why did the newest month change?
- The newest month is a first estimate. BLS revises it the next month, and the site takes the revision.
- Why is there a gap around October 2025?
- BLS published no state figures for that month because of the federal government shutdown. Every state is missing it.
- Why do the dates end in "-01"?
- Each point stands for a whole month. Outside Texas the label is written as the first day of that month, so 2026-09-01 means September 2026.
- I clicked 10y but the heading says fewer years. Why?
- The heading says how much data actually came back. If the site holds fewer than ten years for the state, it tells you the real span.
- Why does the line go up and down every year?
- The rate is not seasonally adjusted, so seasonal hiring and layoffs show up. Compare the same month across years to see the real trend.
What this does NOT do
- It is not a job board and does not show open jobs.
- It is not advice or a forecast. It shows past months only.
- The rates are estimates from a survey; the newest month is revised.
- Nothing about you is stored. Sign-in is used only for saving reports.
- It does not show unemployment for a city, a metro area or a single career.
- It does not show the U.S. rate or a seasonally adjusted rate.
Related
- State pages
- Headline numbers
- National overview (the <State> vs U.S. view)
- Unemployment, hires, openings and quits chart
- Jobs History guide
- Live pages: Home, Jobs History