Unemployment rate rises in 30 states in January as joblessness remains widespread

Unemployment rises in 30 states in January

WASHINGTON — The government says unemployment rose in 30 states in January, evidence that jobs remain scarce in most regions of the country.

The data is somewhat better than December, when 43 states reported higher unemployment rates, but worse than November, when rates fell in most states.

Still, five states reported record-high joblessness in January. They are California, at 12.5 percent; South Carolina, 12.6 percent; Florida, 11.9 percent; North Carolina, 11.1 percent; and Georgia, 10.4 percent.

Michigan’s unemployment rate is still the nation’s highest, at 14.3 percent.

Thirty-one states added jobs in January, up from only 11 in the previous month. But the job gains weren’t enough, in many cases, to lower the unemployment rate.