Aug 19, 2025 - Politics & Policy
America's hottest — and coolest — job markets
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The job market is hotter than average in some states but cooler in others, new data shows.
The big picture: Americans are feeling almost as gloomy about the job market as they did during the Great Recession — and entry-level workers are having an especially hard time getting their foot in the door.
By the numbers: South Dakota (1.9% unemployment); North Dakota (2.5%) and Vermont (2.6%) had July's lowest unemployment rates, based on preliminary and seasonally-adjusted Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Tuesday.
- Washington, D.C. (6%); California (5.5%) and Nevada (5.4%) had the highest.
- Compare those figures to the national unemployment rate of 4.2%.
Zoom in: California also had the only statistically significant month-to-month jump in unemployment among states, BLS says, rising 0.1 percentage points from June.
- The San Francisco Chronicle points to a faltering tech industry as part of the Golden State's problem, especially for younger workers.
- "It's brutal out there," Michael Bernick, former head of the state's Employment Development Department, told the paper.
- In D.C., meanwhile, the Trump administration's purge of federal workers triggered predictions of skyrocketing unemployment — though some agencies, like NOAA, are trying to staff back up following Elon Musk-driven DOGE cuts.
