Meltdown 101: State unemployment report: Is the glass half-full, or half-empty?

Meltdown 101: State unemployment, by the numbers

WASHINGTON — Texas added the third-highest number of jobs among the states last month — but its unemployment rate still jumped because thousands of jobless people streamed into the work force.

That’s typical of the Labor Department’s July state employment report, which includes a wealth of good news and bad news — often from the same state.

Another example from the July report, released Friday: Michigan added 38,100 jobs, just ahead of Texas but behind New York, and its unemployment rate fell. That’s clearly good news, but its jobless rate is still a sky-high 15 percent. That’s bad news.

Overall, 17 states and the District of Columbia reported lower unemployment rates in July — a significant improvement from June, when only 5 states experienced drops.

But in the bad news category, 26 states saw their jobless rates rise. Fifteen states and the district have unemployment rates above 10 percent.

Good news: Twenty-one states and the district added jobs last month, compared to only 10 in June. Bad news: Twenty-nine states still lost jobs.

These and other tidbits can be found in the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment report. Here are some other interesting details, by the numbers.

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STATES OF PAIN

15 percent: Michigan’s unemployment rate, the nation’s highest

12.7 percent: Rhode Island’s unemployment rate, the second highest

12.5 percent: Nevada’s rate

11.9 percent: California’s rate

11.9 percent: Oregon’s rate

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STATES OF CONTENTMENT

4.2 percent: North Dakota’s unemployment rate, the nation’s lowest

4.9 percent: Nebraska’s rate, the second lowest

4.9 percent: South Dakota’s rate

6 percent: Utah’s rate

6.5 percent: Wyoming’s rate

6.5 percent: Oklahoma’s rate

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JOB GAINERS

62,100: Jobs added in New York in July

38,100: Jobs added in Michigan

37,900: Jobs added in Texas

15,600: Jobs added in Tennessee

13,200: Jobs added in District of Columbia

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JOB LOSERS

35,800: Jobs lost in California

26,400: Jobs lost in North Carolina

25,200: Jobs lost in Florida

13,000: Jobs lost in Illinois

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WESTERN WOES

10.5 percent: Unemployment in the Western region

10.2 percent: Unemployment in the Midwest

9.3 percent: Unemployment in the South

8.7 percent: Unemployment in the Northeast